Chitral polo players seek govt patronage

By Our Correspondent


CHITRAL: The players of polo have demanded of the government to promote and patronise the game, which according to them was a source of attraction for tourists in the area.
Talking to this correspondent here on Sunday, they said that every year a large number of local and foreign tourists visited the area to watch Shandur polo festival. They said that polo was the most expensive game. They said that in the past, more than fifty teams used to take part in the district polo tournament but now hardly twenty teams turned up, owing to lack of official patronage.
A retired polo player, Taj Mohammad Figar, said that in 1970s the government fixed allowance for polo players, which was sufficient enough to meet the expenses of the horse. He said that polo tournaments used to be held twice a year and hundreds of players from the nook and corner of the district thronged Chitral.
He said that the game was highly popular among the rulers of the princely state of Chitral. The rulers used to play the game and keep horses ready for the war times as well. Regarding the present amount of allowance being paid to the players, a player said that it had not been revised since 1980 while the rupee had devalued manifold and the amount was quite nominal.
He said that the amount was enough just to support the expenses of horse for two weeks and most of the players had given up to keep horses because they couldn’t bear the expenses. The players said that the ministry of tourism should patronise the game to promote tourism in the area.
They also demanded patronage of other government departments and commercial banks like that of Chitral Scouts and Chitral police, which had polo teams and recruited polo players.--Dawn