The reason most frequently cited for Pakistan's poor performance at international sporting events is the lack of funding, especially when compared with nations where the state or private sector sponsors spend hundreds of millions of dollars a year on their athletes and sports teams.
For example, the Johnson-Ali model which was developed by the duo to predict participating nations' Olympics success, suggested that Pakistan would win seven medals, including three golds, won no medals at all at Athens Olympics. In fact, Pakistan has won three golds,three silvers and four bronze medals, a total of 10 medals in the entire history of its participation in Olympics movement since 1948. Eight out of the ten medals were won by Pakistan's field hockey team. The last Olympic medal Pakistan won was a bronze in 1992.
Johnson-Ali model was developed by Economics professor Daniel Johnson and his student Ms. Ayfer Ali to predict a country's Olympic performance using per-capita income (the economic output per person), the nation's population, its political structure, its climate and the host nation advantage. The Johnson-Ali model was described in a paper, “A Tale of Two Seasons: Participation and Medal Counts at the Summer and Winter Olympics,” that was written in 1999 with Ayfer Ali, while Johnson was on sabbatical at Harvard University and Ali was a student. It was published in Social Science Quarterly in December 2004."It's just pure economics," Johnson insists. "I know nothing about the athletes. And even if I did, I didn't include it."
In terms of funding, the recent growth in Pakistan's commercial media and its coverage of sports have offered a ray of hope, particularly for major Olympics sports which have historically been ignored. And it has come in the form of commercial sponsors looking to use the media coverage to promote their products and services to consumers. Geo Super, the nation's only TV channel dedicated to covering a whole range of sporting events in Pakistan, has led the way.
In addition to promoting sports, tv channels like Geo Super also have the salutary effect in promoting youth athleticism and fitness to play the sports being glamorized by the extensive coverage.
Unfortunately, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has recently pulled the plug on Geo Super, along with AAG, another Geo channel aimed at youth. This decision appears to be have been motivated by the short-sighted desire to hurt Jang media group financially to put pressure on its news channels to tone down their criticism of the current PPP government.
This bad and ill-timed decision has come at time when Pakistan is experiencing a major youth bulge. Fifty-seven per cent of Pakistan’s population is between 15 and 64, and 41 per cent are under 15. Only four per cent are over 65, according to the UN Population Fund. 
This youth bulge can either be used to ramp up economic productivity leading to unprecedented prosperity in Pakistan, or it can cause severe social strife sparking a violent revolution. Channels like Geo Super offer an opportunity to promote pursuit of fitness to help build healthier bodies and create jobs through economic activity in the form of sales of sports apparel, shoes, fitness equipment and memberships of fitness clubs.
While the PPP politicians may find it expedient in the short term to tamp down criticism, this decision is likely to hurt Pakistan's youth the most at a time when there are few other outlets to release their energy in nonviolent ways. And the longer this decision is not reversed, the more likely it will hurt Pakistan's future.
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Pakistan's Youth Bulge
Geo Super Sports TV Channel
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1 year ago
8 comments:
My dear pal, it looks like u really dont read the full story before writing bout issues.
Jung group did NOT have permission to air their channel from Pakistan. they along with all other channels took a license where they could air channel from outside of the country like ESPN n ten sports.
Plus AAG was shut cause Jang very cleverly started to broadcast sports on it when it only had a license to broadcast entertainment.
I don't understand why the Jung group breaks the law and are acting all Gung Ho bout it.It is a fact that they are wrong and this has been admitted by several employees working for the group. Please get your facts in order.
Anon: "Jung group did NOT have permission to air their channel from Pakistan."
Then why was it allowed to broadcast for five years? And now it's been denied even the landing rights? This makes no sense!
There are much larger issues involved here....such as limiting funding and promotion of sports which go hand in hand with media coverage, and an attempt to silence a critical voice by hurting its finance.
This clumsy ban is going to backfire on the PPP (and hurt Pakistan's future) if the energy of the youth in a nation with over 40% youth population is not channeled constructively and peacefully.
The fact is that the govt is unhappy with Jang group because
Pakistan has the most unchecked and unregulated media possibly anywhere in the world. For the country to achieve anything positive, strict media regulation is needed. The media persons, basically from among the journalistic community, are black mailers of the highest order and using media to further their narrow personal interests. Going back into the 70s, 80s and 90s, ie the time when journalism was limited to newspaper reporting only, you'll remember that journalist community was reputed among the educated Pakistanis, professionals etc as "blackmailers". The same people are now dominating the media and our public is naive enough to call it "media freedom".
Supreme Court of Pakistan has ordered the govt to restore Geo Super's satellite license immediately.
Having lost the court battle, the PPP govt and PEMRA are now likely to respond by encouraging significant competition in sports coverage by giving terrestrial transmission licenses to Geo's competitors to hurt Geo's profits.
It'll be a good outcome for consumers and advertisers alike. It will give them more choices in sports media space. It'll improve and increase sports coverage overall...and encourage more youths to participate in athletics and sports.
It seems you are completly unaware of the reality. You called Geo Super a promoter of sports in Pakistan.... Reality is that they are the destroyers of Pakistani sports. You paid PPP is against Geo Super.... The reality is that they have joined hands with Geo in destroying sports. Kindly open your eyes and be fair.
Anon: "The reality is that they have joined hands with Geo in destroying sports. Kindly open your eyes and be fair."
The answer is not to ban Geo Super, but to create healthy competition by encouraging more sports channels to improve sports sponsorship and coverage for Pakistan's youth development in althetics.
Media report says cell phone service company Zong in a deal with Manchester United to train Pakistan's young footballers:
KARACHI: Some 32 young footballers between the ages of 10 and 18 from all over Pakistan can look forward to training by Manchester United players and coaches, including Sir Alex Ferguson, thanks to an arrangement between the world-famous professional football club and a mobile telecom company here.
“Seeing the popularity of football among youngsters in Pakistan, Zong has entered into a three-year contract with Manchester United. It is hoped that this one of a kind partnership will lead to prosperity, growth and triumph for the sport here,” said the company’s Director Advertising and Promotions Rizwan Akhter at a press conference called to announce the union at a local hotel here on Tuesday.
Unveiling the benefits of the contract, Rizwan Akhter said: “From next year, we will hold country-wide trials to pick 32 best footballers in the 10 to 18 age group for training by the club’s players and coaches.”
The partnership gives Pakistan rights to exclusive news and footage of the English clubs activities in order to bring the 150,000 Manchester United fans here closer to the club and their favourite players.
“The move will go a long way in promoting football in Pakistan and inspiring more young players to take up the sport here,” explained the company’s representative.
“It will also allow us here to look more closely at the club’s way of working and their formats in order to take out and follow the positive things from there to help improve the infrastructure here,” he added.
“Though we are focusing on the grassroots level for now, it is hoped that along with the inspiration gained from learning more about the famous English club with such an interesting history will come improvement in football grounds and academies here,” pointed out the gentleman.
Meanwhile, to a question about the possibility of Manchester United players or coaches visiting Pakistan, the organisers said that the present security situation prevents that from happening until things improved here.
http://www.dawn.com/2011/10/26/manchester-uniteds-best-to-aid-pakistani-footballers.html
Here's a Reuters' story about soccer offering hope for poor slum kids in Karachi:
In the heart of one of Pakistan's most dangerous neighborhoods in the teeming city of Karachi, soccer pitches are keeping vulnerable teenagers from joining abundant gangs, kidnappers and extortion rackets.
Dozens of hard-scrabble soccer clubs give youngsters with few chances for education or work the opportunity to get off the streets and even dream of getting a nod to join a national team or a semi-professional club.
"There is so much talent in Lyari. It can be a great way of keeping these kids away from drugs and street crime especially if they are well paid and rewarded," said Yacoob Baloch, a soccer coach at one of the clubs.
Pakistan, a strategic U.S. ally, spends less than 2 percent of its gross domestic product on education which translates into a lack of skills needed to find work for much of the young population of the country of nearly 180 million.
Pakistan's police and security forces also lack funds, making it easy for criminals to thrive in Lyari, a densely populated area in Karachi with dilapidated buildings, potholed streets and raw sewage.
More than 1,600 people were killed in Karachi last year in either political and sectarian violence or by drug dealers, mafia hitmen and extortionists, marking the worst bloodshed since the army was called in to ease street battles in the 1990s.
But soccer has proven to be a way out of the chaos for some.
"Because of my focus on football, my mind has never wandered off to other things like drugs or violence," said Muneer Aftab, 15, who led Pakistan to victory in the under-16 South Asian Football Federation Championships in 2011, defeating arch-rival India.
"Playing football runs in my blood. I just want to play forever."
But for people like Aftab, there is only limited time to practice and usually only after being worn down by the daily grind in the sprawling city of 18 million on the Arabian Sea.
He wakes up at the crack of dawn to play soccer, goes to school during the day and helps his father who drives a rickshaw along Karachi's chaotic streets, and goes back to the soccer pitch at night.
"I know I am chasing my dream. But it's not easy," said Aftab, well-built, dark-skinned and shy.
LYARI IS A LITTLE BRAZIL
Soccer has become a big hit in Lyari, no small feat because cricket is by far the most popular sport in Pakistan. There are 98 registered soccer clubs, 11 football grounds and two stadiums in Lyari, home to over 600,000 people.
If a player gets recognized in Lyari, not only the national team comes into sight, but also the chance to play for teams sponsored by corporations and banks that pay players a monthly salary.
The National Bank of Pakistan, for instance, gives Aftab 10,000 rupees ($111) a month to play in the semi-professional league.
During the last soccer World Cup, violence dropped sharply in Lyari. Residents gathered in the evening to watch matches on projector screens, a welcome change in a place where nighttime usually means gang warfare and abductions.
Ahmed Jan, a local coach and stadium manager, said Karachi's exposure to the sport began in the late 1950s.
Ships from Europe docked at the port. Sailors interacted with boys who worked as laborers and introduced them to soccer and kicked a few balls around.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/sns-rt-us-pakistan-soccertre80n0ol-20120124,0,5846553.story
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