Pakistan’s Sports Need a Leader Like Air Marshal Nur Khan

Pakistan has produced some of the greatest athletes in the world, individuals who became symbols of national pride. Cricket has given us legends such as Abdul Hafeez Kardar, Hanif Mohammad, Zaheer Abbas, Majid Khan, Javed Miandad, Imran Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Saleem Malik, Wasim Akram, and Saeed Anwar. In hockey, Samiullah, Kaleemullah, Hanif Khan, Akhtar Rasool, Manzoor Junior, Hassan Sardar, Shahbaz Senior, Tahir Zaman, and Sohail Abbas brought international recognition to Pakistan.

In squash, Qamar Zaman, Jahangir Khan, and Jansher Khan dominated the world stage. In tennis, Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Aqeel Khan represented Pakistan internationally. These achievements demonstrate that Pakistan has never been short of sporting talent.

Air Marshal Malik Nur Khan played a pivotal role during that era. He was not merely an administrator at Pakistan International Airlines (PIA); he was also one of Pakistan’s most influential sports administrators. Through PIA’s Colts programme, he established a system for identifying and training young athletes.

He also provided substantial support to cricket, hockey, and squash. His vision was that institutions should not exist merely to provide employment; they should also serve as platforms for producing champions.nnToday, Pakistan has sports boards, various federations, and government institutions, yet several sports are struggling. Hockey and squash are striving to regain their former standing, snooker no longer enjoys the same consistency, and football is still working to establish itself on the international stage.

Occasionally, an extraordinary talent such as Arshad Nadeem emerges and, through determination and hard work, wins Olympic gold for Pakistan. Yet such achievements can appear to be the result of an exceptional individual’s success rather than the outcome of a consistently functioning development system.nnWhat Pakistan needs today is visionary leadership like that of Air Marshal Nur Khan—leaders who can build not just an individual athlete but an entire system. If every sport had administrators with a similar vision, Pakistan would not have to wait for an extraordinary talent to emerge every time.

Instead, producing champions could become a sustained and systematic process.