President Asif Ali Zardari will present Hilal-e-Imtiaz to Olympic gold medalist Arshad Nadeem today in a special ceremony at the President’s House. The ceremony of awarding the Halal-e-Imtiaz will be telecast live.
Arshad set a world record by throwing the javelin to 92.97 meters in the javelin throw game of the Paris Olympics 2024 and won the gold medal for Pakistan for the first time in athletics.
Two new players have been included in the national cricket team for the second Test match against Bangladesh.
Mystery spinners Abrar Ahmed and Kamran Ghulam have been included in the national Test squad. They were released from the Test squad before the start of the first Test match and were playing for the Pakistan Shaheens in the 4-day match against Bangladesh ‘A’ at Islamabad Club.
Apart from this, fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi came to Karachi for the birth of his son and he has now rejoined the squad in Pindi.
Amir Jamal, who left the squad to work on his fitness at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), was also recalled during his participation in the second Test. He will be subjected to fitness clearance.
The team management and senior players are not happy with the overall fast bowlers’ performance in the first Test.
The second Test between Pakistan and Bangladesh will be played from August 30 to September 3 at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
In the first Test, Bangladesh defeated Pakistan by ten wickets in Rawalpindi.
The Taliban government of Afghanistan has imposed a ban on mixed martial arts (MMA), declaring the sport illegal in the country.
Officials of the Ministry of Sports of Afghanistan said in a statement, “The government has banned mixed martial arts, considering it illegal. An investigation revealed that the sport has Shariah-related issues and many aspects that are against Islamic teachings.”
MMA was partially banned once before because it was considered violent and risked injury or death.
Martial arts is one of the most popular sports in Afghanistan. At the recent Paris Olympics, four of Afghanistan’s 11 athletes were from martial arts, representing the national or refugee Olympic teams.
MMA has not been recognized as a sport in the Olympics, partly because of concerns about the sport.
Taliban came to power in August 2021 and habe since banned girls’ from going to school or colleges, stoped women from working, and has introduced other strict laws including banning women from singing in public.
A deep fake video of Indian cricket team star batsman Virat Kohli has gone viral on social media, in which Kohli criticises fellow cricketer Shubman Gill. However, social media users are calling the video out, saying it’s a deep fake.
It all started as 24-year-old Shubnam Gill was being hailed as the next big player in India, with many debating that he could not reach the level of star batsman Virat Kohli.
In the fake video, Virat Kohli can be seen taking the young cricketer’s name and criticising him, saying, “There is a big difference between playing great and becoming a legend. I have seen Shubman very closely; he is talented, his technique is amazing, and people call him Virat Kohli of the future, but people must understand that there is only one Virat Kohli.”
Many Virat Kohli’s fans reacted to the post and pointed out the edited parts of the video.
Here are some reactions.
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Pakistan’s internet slowdown has been ongoing for over a month, and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) deadline for its restoration ended yesterday. The deadline has passed, and the internet remains disrupted.
“The internet slowdown is due to the failure of two out of seven submarine cables. The rerouting of the AAE-1 cable is completed; after this, the internet services will be further improved.” read PTA’s statement.
“The repair phase of the SMW4 cable is likely to be completed by October 2024, and internet services will be fully available after the completion of the second submarine cable,” PTA further added.
The internet in Pakistan has been slow since July, which has caused many digital businesses to lose money and many freelancers to lose their jobs.
England batsman Dawid Malan has announced that he is retiring from international cricket.
The 37-year-old cricketer last represented England in the 2023 ODI World Cup.
He represented his country in 22 Tests, 30 ODIs and 62 T20 matches. He has the distinction of being the number one T20 batsman during his career.
Uruguayan footballer Juan Izquierdo died of cardiac arrest during a match in Brazil on Wednesday.
The 27-year-old fell to the ground during the match in Sao Paulo last week, leading to the game being immediately stopped. Players gathered around him while an ambulance made its way to the stadium to take him to the hospital.
A statement from the hospital said that Juan died due to an irregular heartbeat.
The deceased footballer was married and had two children, the youngest of whom was born in early August.
The Normalization Committee of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) has banned 22 people, including former President Ashfaq Hussain, for life for taking the PFF House and creating a parallel organization.
Syed Ashfaq Hussain Shah, Zahir Shah, Amir Dogar, and Sardar Naveed Haider are among those banned by the PFF’s Normalization Committee. In addition, Sharafat Hussain Bukhari, Naveed Akram, Rahim Baloch, Dost Muhammad Khan, Muhammad Nauman, Rana Ashraf, Saeed Rasool, Azizullah, Faqir Mohammad, Farzana Rauf, Mohammad Saleem, Fanwaz Aziz, and Siddiq Shaikh have also been banned for life.
The Committee has ordered all these persons to return all PFF assets, including official vehicles, within seven days; otherwise, criminal cases will be filed against them.
After a detailed investigation, the Committee concluded that these individuals had violated Article 70 of the PFF Constitution by forming a parallel organization that clearly breached the rules and regulations. The officials are now banned from any football-related activities, being declared ‘Persona non grata’.
Disciplinary action has been taken against those involved in the attack on the PFF House on March 27, 2021. This attack not only led to the suspension of Pakistan’s international football but also caused significant damage to the country’s image.
The verdict said that the attack resulted in the illegal seizure of PFF property, embezzlement of over four million rupees and destruction of essential assets.
The PFF has directed all its concerned units and departments to strictly implement the decision of the Disciplinary Committee and warned that if any concerned person tries to establish contact with these banned persons, they will be punished.
Those affected by the decision have the right to appeal within 15 days, but they must complete the appeal process in accordance with the procedures provided under the PFF Disciplinary Code and Ethics.
Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) President Tariq Bugti has revealed that the national hockey team has gone to China using loaned tickets to participate in the Asian Champions Trophy.
He said, “The Congress has approved strict action against parallel federation builders. I will withdraw the charge of the Edhi Hockey Stadium and establish the writ of the federation. IG Sindh is writing a letter to take charge of the stadium.”
Bugti demanded that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif give a special grant to promote hockey and said, “Hockey is not being given the status and respect that this national sport deserves. There is a dire need to focus on the national game now.”
Hockey is Pakistan’s national sport, but inattention and vested interests have seen the game languish. The four-time world champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist team could not even participate in the Paris Olympics 2024.
Jay Shah, the current secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has been elected the new, unopposed chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC). He will officially assume his position on December 1, 2024.
At this moment, he said, “I am honoured to be nominated as the Chair of the International Cricket Council.”
“I am dedicated to working closely with the ICC team and our member nations to expand cricket globally. We are at a crucial moment where it’s essential to balance various formats, embrace new technologies, and bring our key events to new international markets. We aim to make cricket more inclusive and popular than ever,” he said.
“While we will build on what we’ve learned, we must also embrace new ideas and innovation to grow the love for cricket worldwide. Including cricket in the LA 2028 Olympics is a major milestone, and I’m confident it will help cricket advance in exciting new ways.”
Former ICC Chairman Greg Barclay announced on August 20 that he won’t contest again for his post to seek an extension of his tenure and will step down in November.