KP Sports, Political Ambition, and the Art of Paperwork

 

Musarrat Ullah Jan – Kikxnow digital creator

The elections for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Olympic Association are due in January 2026, and a familiar theatrical rhythm has resumed. Crisscrossing the province, a number of sports associations have started stirring, their preparations unfolding in offices and living rooms and, most probably, in daydreams. Sources say this year will be unusually colorful, with several prominent figures—until now known only in political circles—looking to make an entry into the sporting arena.

But herein lies the farcical truth: where election activity has been high, practical preparation is minimal. The only game in town is the "currency game." Since 2020, following the COVID-19 pandemic, not one association has received grants, aid, or substantive support from the KP government. Sports lovers and associations are thus thrown into the role of self-funded heroes, trying to keep the athletic flame alight without a rupee of official assistance.

Consider the cast: some 38 sports associations are technically working in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, many in name only. Names on paper, perhaps. The critical question arises: are these bodies promoting sports or just playing what may be called the "positional prestige game" of holding office, dreaming of budgets, and nothing else? The answer becomes a refrain: office bearers are glad to possess these titles, but they hardly make time for actual development.

Enter figures like Syed Aqil Shah, whose political career is perhaps overshadowed by his legendary dedication to KP sports. He famously organized National Games amidst times of terrorism. Yet, even for him, keeping the Olympic Association active has become a mammoth, under-resourced task. The new, eager generation is waiting in the wings, but there are no resources, and the few active administrators are perpetually time-poor. The situation is just a perfect comedic analogy: pay a gas bill in winter to find there's no gas, and then get an electricity bill in summer just to complete the bureaucratic farce.

Senior sports figures are demanding a fresh, dynamic leadership to modernize KP's sports structure. But when and whether it would come, and whether it will be an active force or just another symbolic appointment, like so many other associations is anybody's guess. While local competitions are held routinely, the province's sports infrastructure wears an evident look of neglect. No funding, no planning, yet elections arrive with as much regularity as the tragicomic rhythm of paper work and unfulfilled pledges.

The National Games to be held in Karachi in December are an opportunity that should not be missed. Without considerable financial backing, however, even this vital networking is not easy. In many instances, holding an office is much more attractive than giving one's time to grassroots development. Combine all this with elections, political ambition, and lack of time, and the sports scenario has become a farce of absurd proportions.

One vital demand this year relates to transparent elections conducted through ballot boxes. Noble as the cause is, a comedy of sorts unfolds. How can elections be free and fair when most associations are starved for resources and their office-bearers are politically or socially compromised? The exercise assumes dimensions of technical democracy combined with farcical maneuvering.

 

Financial constraints provide the deepest well of comedy. Since 2020, associations have not received grants or aid. Annually, a "budget plan" is submitted with high hopes, but in reality, all they have are paper projects—plans which exist more in the imagination than in practice. It’s a "phantom funding" system: where dreams of tournaments and coaching abound, but the cash does not.

The irony is that electricity is expensive in summer, gas is expensive in winter, and the associations are always short of cash. The athletes keep on dreaming while office-bearers enjoy only titles without devoting any real time. It's a comedy of energy, politics, and time that keeps everybody busy with little results to show for.

The provincial government still refuses to issue grants or any other kinds of support. Every time elections are near, office-bearers draw up lofty budgets, which turn out to be only fantasy and render all the tournaments, coaching camps, and athlete welfare an "imaginary sports program." The upcoming elections are crucial, but even a new, energetic leadership will face the same structural and financial hurdles. It is a relentless cycle: elections, promises, and paperwork, while actual sports development plays the role of a background character in KP's ongoing drama.

It is an interesting mix of comedy and tragedy: holding elections on schedule, funds nowhere, administrators at wit's end, and the agony of athletes.

#KPSportsComedy #PhantomFunding #PositionalPrestige #KPOlympicElections #SportsAndPolitics