Balochistan just benched its best team

The crowd at the Railway Ground, Quetta was laser focused on the footwork between Noshki and Kech in the qualifying round of the 6th Chief Minister Balochistan Gold Cup which would be followed by the qualifier for the nationals. At the edge of the field stood Hamza, Pakistan Police Football team’s star. This season he was positioned on the other side of the boundary line. He was guarding the match in a police uniform. “Sometimes it feels like I am watching the death of my own career,” Hamza said while recalling the scene from the Railway Ground this year. After bagging the Balochistan Gold Cup trophy in 2022, and the National Games trophy the following year, his entire team has been posted to police stations and police lines. Some of the defenders are at the checkpoints, others are patrolling the streets. Mohammad Umair, international Wushu athlete and police officer, on security duty in Quetta. — Balochistan Police Sports Board Millions around the world today have been following football as the FIFA World Cup. Across Pakistan, fans gather in grounds, tea shops and neighborhood streets to watch and discuss the game. Quetta, where football is followed with an unusual passion, is once again alive with the excitement of the latest season of the All Pakistan CM Gold Cup. Yet one of the province’s most successful football teams is missing. Hamza played football under a club till 2021. That year, he appeared for Balochistan Police sports trials, marking the beginning of his chapter as PPF’s defender. Athletes like him join Balochistan’s Police force through the province’s Police Sports Programme. Unlike with regular police recruitment, instead of sitting the conventional exams, they enter through competitive sports trials and are hired on a sports quota. They are appointed police constables of Grade 7 (22 being the highest), receive a government salary, and are able to primarily focus on sports. Of course, they are occasionally deployed in ‘emergencies’, such as elections