The Graveyard of Dreams: How Corruption and Silence Crushed Sports in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

 

Musarrat Ulalh Jan – Kikxnow Digital Creator

The Game of Silence: Inside Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Collapsed Sports Directorate

In the cold, cavernous corridors of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sports Directorate, silence isn't a lack of noise—it is the sound of absolute rot. Here, files gather dust like tombstones, multi-million rupee projects crumble into disuse, and officials navigate their day with the chilling calm of people who have perfected the art of strategic, profitable incompetence.

For years, this Directorate was supposed to be the engine of youth development, a forge for future champions. Instead, it has become a graveyard of public trust, where every scandal is met not with accountability, but with a deliberate, deafening silence.

It began with futsal. A group of individuals, masquerading as Pakistani players using fake credentials, allegedly leveraged Directorate connections to travel to the US via Colombia. The goal wasn't to compete, but to smuggle people. When the FIA stepped in and made arrests, the provincial Sports Directorate's response was a chilling blanket of denial.

The whispers from insiders tell the whole story: “They don’t want bad publicity. It will harm the department’s reputation.” The irony is an indictment: the reputation is being protected by pretending crime didn't happen.

This pattern intensified with a second, even more audacious squash scandal and then a hockey tournament in Swabi, both of which allegedly involved attempts at human trafficking under the guise of sports participation. In each case, the Directorate refused to conduct a transparent inquiry, opting instead to stay in discreet contact with the accused—all to "bury the news" and protect its image. The message is clear: the department is either deliberately enabling the collapse of sports, or the figures involved are so powerful that even the top brass dare not lift a finger.

The Substandard Showcase: Eight squash courts, each costing over PKR 10 million, stand as monuments to poor construction and inflated budgets. They are hollow symbols, utterly failing to produce a single champion.

The Nailed Turf: At Peshawar’s Lala Ayub Hockey Stadium, a PKR 120 million synthetic turf is literally nailed to the ground. Fountains are broken, machinery is defunct, and the expensive surface looks like a patched-up rug.

The Never-Ending Ground: The Athletics Ground in Peshawar has seen its budget balloon from PKR 380 million to PKR 680 million, with completion perpetually "just around the corner." The only consistency is the disappearance of engineers and contractors.

While these white elephants multiply, dozens of vehicles reportedly purchased for over a thousand projects are simply missing. An investigative committee was formed months ago, but its report is yet to surface. Perhaps, insiders joke, the committee went missing with the cars.

Accountability has been replaced by entitlement. Hostels at the Peshawar Sports Complex, meant to house and support struggling athletes, have been turned into rent-free homes for Directorate officers. These officials—many of whom are already drawing house rent allowances—have squatted for years, with the department offering only a confident shrug or a facile excuse when questioned.

And while ordinary players struggle for basic gear, a few "special" athletes benefit from selective generosity, receiving up to PKR 6.4 million in foreign trip funding in a single year. How were they selected? The question is left unanswered, suggesting their sport may have been networking, not athletics.

At the district level, the system is completely unchecked. District Sports Offices operate without records, and local officers stay in place for years, protected by such strong political connections that even grade-20 officers hesitate to question their authority.

Perhaps the most insidious tactic is the Directorate's immediate crackdown on whistleblowers. Any employee who dares to question the irregularities is met with transfers, intimidation, or quiet threats. A culture where fear replaces accountability ensures the cycle of corruption remains unbroken. As one coach cynically put it:

“Here, you don’t get promoted for performance—you get promoted for pretending everything is fine.”

The real tragedy is not that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s talented young athletes are losing; it is that the people tasked with fostering their potential have already surrendered. The biggest game in KP sports today is played in offices, between files, approvals, and connections. And in that game, the champions are those who know how to keep quiet.

Until someone breaks the silence and demands genuine accountability, the Directorate will continue to reward incompetence, waste millions, and celebrate the death of a thousand dreams.

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