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Introduction
Pakistan has a rich sporting history. Over the years different sports in Pakistan have seen their golden days and some sports have had a decline in their popularity due to different reasons. Trends might have changed but one thing remains unchanged and that is the love of Pakistani nation for sports. Following is a list of top ten most popular sports in Pakistan.
Over recent years there has been an increase in sporting activity in Pakistan, with Pakistani sportsmen and women participating at many national and international events. Also, more international tournaments now take place in Pakistan. The size of the teams Pakistan sends, and the number of events they participate in the Olympic Games, Asian Games, World Games and Commonwealth Games has increased since the turn of the century.
Export of Sports Goods
Sialkot is globally called a producer of good quality products in sports, surgical instruments, leather garments, gloves & accessories, sportswear and musical instruments. Statistics revealed that around 400,000 plus people are engaged directly or indirectly with export activities. Annual export earnings of the city are almost US $1 billion. Some of the world-renowned brands Adidas, Nike and Puma source a large portion of their supplies of sports goods from Sialkot.
Statistics also showed that Pakistan manufactured and provided the Brazucas, the footballs used in the FIFA World Cup 2014 speaks volumes of the excellence of Pakistan made sports products.
Sialkot gained international celebrity status when it produced the Tango Ball used in FIFA Football World Cup in 1982. This led to the further growth of soccer ball industry in the city. Pakistani exporters of sports goods, particularly from Sialkot, also made their mark at the Munich ISPO 2015 held last year in January.
Statistics also revealed that total exports of sports goods during calendar year 2014 were US$ 260 million with inflatable balls worth US$ 211 million. The main export destinations are Germany (14 percent of total exports), UK (10 percent of total exports), USA (8 percent of total exports) and Netherlands (7 percent of total exports). Furthermore, Sialkot-city caters to greater than 60 percent of total world demand of hand stitched inflatable balls which translates into around 40 million balls annually, providing direct employment facility to over 200,000 individuals. Many research studies mentioned that the sports goods sector is the key export sector of the city with total exports of US$ 450 million per annum.
Cricket
Cricket remains the undisputed champion in terms of popularity in Pakistan in 2019, despite the fact that Pakistani soil has not seen much international cricket action. One can argue that the craze for cricket is not the same as it was in 90s or 2,000s (the decade) but this might just be artificial or seasonal. Whenever the cricket world cup or any other event arrives, the whole nation catches the cricket fever. The passions run high with screening of matches in different public places. There are Hundreds if not thousands of cricket clubs in different parts of the country and many local tournaments are held in every city throughout the year. Kids still play tape ball cricket in the streets and try to copy the style of super stars like Shahid Afridi, Wahab Riaz and Misbah ul Haq.
Achievements
- 1992: World Cup Champions
- 2009: ICC World T20 winners
- 2017: ICC Champions Trophy winners
- 2000: Asia cup winners
- 2012: Asia cup winners
- 1999: Asian Test Championship Winners
- 1999: World Cup Runners Up
- World Number 1 on Test Rankings in 1988
- World Number 1 on ODI Rankings in 1990
- World Number 1 on Test Rankings in 2016
- 2008: Kitply Tri Series Winners
- 2007: Inaugural ICC World T20 Runners Up
- 2006: Under 19 World Cup Winners
- 2004: Under 19 world Cup Winners
- 1988: Under 19 World Cup Finalists
- 2010: Under 19 World Cup Finalists
- 2011: SAARC U25 Winners
Football
The most popular sport of the world is still not the most popular sport in Pakistan in 2019, but things are changing quickly. In almost all the urban centers of Pakistan, football has gained huge popularity over the last few years. It has become the dominant sport in many schools, colleges and universities. Over the years Pakistan football federation has continuously failed this beautiful game in Pakistan, but the international appeal and stardom of the game is so huge that football is still growing in Pakistan. There are hundreds of thousands of fans of European football clubs like Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. Football is the 2nd most watched and played sport in Pakistan in 2019.
Achievements
- 1952: Pakistan was the joint champion of Colombo Cup along with India.
- 1953: Runner up of Colombo Cup
- 1954: Runner up of Colombo Cup
- 1955: Runner up of Colombo Cup
- 1960: Runner-up of Merdeka Cup
- 1965: Third place in RDC Cup
- 1967: Third place in RDC Cup
- 1969: Third place in RDC Cup
- 1970: Third place in RDC Cup
- 1974: Third place in RDC Cup
- 1992: Forth place in South Asian Football Federation Cup
- 1997: Third place in South Asian Football Federation Cup
- 2005: Third place in South Asian Football Federation Cup
Hockey
Field Hockey is Pakistans National Sport and was the most popular sport in the 70s and 80s.Pakistan national field hockey team has won 3 gold medals at the Olympic Games, and lifted the Hockey World Cup 4 times, a World Record. It has also won the most number of Asian gold medals, and is the only Asian team to have won the prestigious Champions Trophy with 3 titles. It has been consistently ranked amongst the top teams in the world. Notable players include World-Record holder Waseem Ahmad, Mohammed Saqlain, and Sohail Abbas. The player with most number of matches is none other than Waseem Ahmad.
The decline of hockey continues. Several factors are contributing to the decreasing popularity of the sport which was once the most popular sport in Pakistan. The poor performance of the hockey federation and as a result hockey team over the last few years is one factor. Lack of proper infrastructure, lack of stardom and international appeal are also contributing to the decline of Hockey. Unless something extraordinary happens, the trend is likely to continue.
Achievements
- World Cup:
- Gold medal: 1971, 1978, 1982, 1994
- Silver medal: 1975, 1990
- Champions Trophy:
- Gold medal: 1978, 1980, 1994
- Silver medal: 1983, 1984, 1988, 1991, 1996, 1998, 2014
- Bronze medal: 1986, 1992, 1995, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2012,
- Summer Olympics:
- Gold medal: 1960 Rome, 1968 Mexico City, 1984 Los Angeles
- Silver medal: 1956 Melbourne, 1964 Tokyo, 1972 Munich
- Bronze medal: 1976 Montreal, 1992 Barcelona
- Asian Champions Trophy:
- Gold medal: 2012, 2013, 2018
- Silver medal: 2011, 2016
- Asia Cup:
- Gold medal: 1982, 1985, 1989
- Silver medal: 1999, 2003, 2009
- Bronze medal: 1993, 2013, 2017
- Asian Games:
- Gold medal: 1958, 1962, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1990, 2010
- Silver medal: 1966, 1986, 2014
Current Situation
Cricket: Pakistan cricket have been severely affected by terrorism. In 2009 there was a terrorist attack on Siri Lankan cricket team due to which ICC banned Pakistan for hosting any international series, since then Pakistan play their home series in UAE.
But now Pakistan has managed to pull things together. As hope to bring cricket home continues Pakistan Cricket board started a league called Pakistan super league in 2015 in UAE where international players come to play alongside local players. PSL success helps Pakistan to relive its cricket in Pakistan. Teams like Zimbabwe, West Indies, world XI and recently Siri Lankan team visited Pakistan for one day match series and t20 series. Now Pakistan situation is going well which encourages other teams to come for series. It is expected that Asia cup 2020 would be hosted by Pakistan which is great news for Pakistani fans as they are waiting for a major tournament to be held in home for a long time.
Football: Pakistan has always been passionate about cricket but now footballs popularity in Pakistan is increasing rapidly. As now the new generation can be seen showing interest in football more than cricket. We can now see kids and adults playing in parks, ground. There is a lot of talent in Pakistan but there is no proper structure like Pakistan football federation is not providing any facilities for kids like there are very few proper stadiums. No proper scope for people to start their career into these sports as they are being pay really less as compared to cricket.
FIFA used to give money to PFF board to invest in football in Pakistan but the board mishandled this due to corruption and other things. FIFA said PFF has violated our terms due to which we have suspended its membership. All this led to a court to appoint an administrator to oversee affairs in violation of FIFA requirements.
Now, the PFF club teams and representatives are no longer entitled to take part in international competitions until the ban is lifted, FIFA told Reuters in a statement. But now in 2019 ban have been lifted. To lift Pakistan football there should be changes in management inside the board and then there should be a proper structure and not do any sort of nepotism in the process. If all things work out Pakistan football standard will increase and they might qualify for FIFA World Cup.
Hockey: Pakistan used to rule the hockey world back in the day but the current situation is really poor. Players are not being paid. Board has not been provided proper facilities like academies. The budget they receive is not being used properly. There is so much corruption inside the board. At this moment Pakistan hockey is being destroyed by corrupt leaders and managers.
Conclusion
Although pakistan have been so much successful in cricket in recent years but they have to promote their other sports too like football, hockey, tennis and etc. but for this they have to make a corruption free structure where they hunt talents from different areas of Pakistan.
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