Islamabad, Oct 5 (IANS) The Pakistani contingent leader has been facing flak in his home country for his ‘cheap stunt’ in carrying the flag during the team’s parade at the opening ceremony of the 2010 Commonwealth Games instead of celebrated weightlifter Shujauddin Malik.
Pakistan faced ‘yet another embarrassing moment on the world stage’ as the country’s chef-de-mission Mohammad Ali Shah ‘pulled off something that can only be described as a cheap stunt’, said the sports editor of dawn.com, the website of Dawn newspaper.
The Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) had chosen Malik, the country’s gold medal winning weightlifter at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, to lead the team.
But, as the ceremony started Sunday and teams strode into the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium one by one, ‘the Pakistani contingent despite receiving the most rousing reception out of all the participating nations, experienced a moment of great embarrassment’.
Despite television screens flashing the name ‘Shujauddin Malik’ as the flag bearer, Shah appeared in the front pushing Malik aside at the event.
Weightlifting team manager Rashid Mehmood revealed that Shah told Malik it was the chef-de-mission’s right to lead the contingent as he was the ‘senior’ most among them.
According to Malik, the chief de mission after a tussle over the flag minutes before the opening ceremony, had threatened to send the weightlifter home if he did not respect Shah’s decision.
The team threatened to pull out of the games unless Shah apologised but later decided that it was best for the country’s image that they stay put.
The POA chief Syed Arif Hassan has jumped in to resolve the deadlock and the team has apparently decided to bury the issue at least till the Games are over. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has also ordered a probe into the matter.
However, the article predicted the outcome: ‘A meeting between Gilani and Shah and a press conference where the latter will apologise over the ‘misunderstanding”.
‘The insult meted out to the country’s unsung hero, who despite lack of facilities and even proper shoes remains the most likely medal hope at the Games,’ it said.
