KABUL (Pajhwok): Afghan athletes have achieved 120 medals in different international games in the past three years and the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) annual budget increased four times compared to the past.
Pajhwok Afghan News has held interviews with ACB, Olympic Committee and some other sport institutions spokespersons about the state of sport in the country in the past three years.
Domestic sports related developments
The National Olympic Committee Spokesperson Atal Mashwani told Pajhwok Afghan News that Afghanistan made huge progress at domestic and international sports events.
He said after the takeover of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) progress has been made at domestic level, competitions were expanded, sports and selection trials competitions were held in those regions of the country where no games were held in previous years; also, provincial trial events were held, sports were developed and extended to all provinces.
He said that in the past three years, a number of new games, such as car and motorcycle racing competitions, tip ball cricket competitions, Freeze Bee sports games and some other sports have been created under the umbrella of the National Olympic Committee in the provinces. A representative bodies has been opened, but they have not yet been registered with the Olympic Committee in the form of a federation, and work is underway to formalize it.
He said that Afghanistan’s national futsal team made its way to the World Cup in 2023 for the first time. In the same year, it made its way to the Asian Nations Cup, which was a great achievement in the field of futsal.
He added that currently 52 federations are operating under the umbrella of the National Olympic Committee and are organizing their competitions.
International medals:
Mashwani said after the takeover of the IEA Afghan athletes won nine meddles in international competitions in 2022, in 2023 Afghan athletes won 22 medals — two gold, 10 silver and 10 bronze — in 2024 Afghan players so far won 19 gold medals, 30 silver and 40 bronze medals.
Problems faced by sports:
Mashwani said in the past three years no budget provided to Afghanistan by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and it was a huge setback for the sport section of the country.
He said if Afghanistan got this budget from the IOC, sports would have made further development.
According to Mashwani funds from the IOC remained suspended because of the financial and banking curbs on Afghanistan.
He said efforts were underway to address the problem through private sector and opened way for the organization of some sports events.
Sports facilities for Afghan returnees:
Mashwani said the IEA worked for the National Olympic Committee, Afghan athletes in the foreign countries would be reorganized and those with high capabilities and talent would be included in the national teams.
He said there are still some national teams, most of whose athletes live outside the country, but they play in the team, and in some countries, consultative bodies have been formed to help the athletes in those countries.
He said In the past three years, sports have not been restricted in the country, they have a policy in this area and all Afghan athletes can participate in the selection competitions of the federations and if they are qualified, they are selected for the national teams.
Mashwani said there were players in futsal, football athletics and judo who live abroad and participated in competitions. He added players in the country and outside the country were entitled to equal rights.
Olympic Committee future plan:
The Olympic Committee spokesperson said In the future more attention would be paid to internal competitions for the development of sports, so that the sports institutions within the country are strong and such athletes could be found within the country who have the ability to join the national teams.
Mishwani said the National Olympic Committee wanted to hold national selection competitions at the level of federations, provinces, districts and villages, so that hidden talent in villages and districts is rediscovered.
He said that this committee wanted to repair stadiums and sports gymnasiums in the country and added this year some budget has been allocated for this purpose.
He also said that the National Olympic Committee planned to pay more attention to international competitions, so that more players could participate in foreign competitions and gain new experiences.
Players point of views:
Some players said they were happy about the performance of sports institutions in the past three years but stressed that officials should pay more attention in this regard and support players morally and financially.
Mohammad Khalid Hotak, one of the players who grabbed bronze medal last year in Asian games, said more attention has been paid to sports in the past three years, there is more transparency now and the rights of players are not violated.
He said Afghanistan is promoted through sports in the world and asked officials to support athletes morally and financially.
Another athlete Erfan Mohammad Noori told Pajhwok Afghan News he play wrestling from the past two and half years.
He said more selection trials are held now compared to the past, adding that more players have economic problems and they needed support in this regard.
He urged the National Olympic Committee to provide the rights of athlets so they could play well at international level and brighten Afghanistan’s name.
Work done in domestic cricket sector
Naseem Sadat, ACB spokesman, said dozens of cricket academies were established in a number of provinces during the past three years, where hundreds of players were currently learning professional cricket.
He said two to three cricket grounds existed in each zone of the country, with some reconstructed by ACB.
He added construction work on a cricket stadium was underway in eastern Laghman province, a guest house was built and a cricket academy was being constructed in Khost cricket stadium.
Sadat said a cricket ground was established in southeastern Paktia province last year, work was ongoing on a cricket ground in central Logar province and Kunduz cricket ground was reconstructed.
Earlier, there were only dry pitches in the country stadiums, but green pitches have been built in all stadiums which support fast bowlers, he announced.
The spokesman said a High Performance Centre (HPC) had been set up at the ACB, where domestic and international coaches worked improving players’ skills.
He clarified that the International Cricket Council (ICC) previously would give four million US dollars to the ACB as annual budget, but this amount was increased four folds last year. ACB has increased the salaries and match fees of national players.
Work done for international cricket
The ACB spokesman said Afghanistan clinched T20 and One-Day international series from Ireland and Zimbabwe in 2021 and in 2022. He said Afghanistan won ODI series against Bangladesh in 2022.
He added Afghanistan had won a T20 series 2-1 against Pakistan for the first time in 2023.
Afghanistan defeated Pakistan, England, Sri Lanka and the Netherlandz during the ICC Men’s ODI World cup 2023 in India, he recalled.
Sadat said the national squad trounced Papua New Gina (PNG), Australia, New Zealand and Bangladesh and found their way to the semi-finals for the first time in ICC Men’s T20 2024.
Challenges Afghanistan cricket face
Sadat said after the political change in the country, embassies were closed in the country, flights were canceled and the national squad could not fly to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for 2021 T20 World Cup.
He recalled Afghanistan participated in that world cup after ACB efforts and cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA).
He added there were problems in banking sector after Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) takeover in August, 2021 and the transfer of money was very difficult.
He said ACB had opened new bank accounts for national players in the UAE in order to resolve these problems.
New cricket academies would be established in some provinces for promotion of cricket in upcoming year, he concluded.
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