Footballer He dreamed of making a living with football, of becoming a football field! But fate has dragged him to the streets. The plan was to run around with football, memorize football in training, and shake the opponent’s net with the ball. But now that Mohammad Riaz is sitting on the side of the road, making jilapi in the heat of the stove.
Riaz was a potential star of Pakistan football. He played for the K-Electric team. He also represented Pakistan in the Asian Games. If everything went well, he could have been seen in the Pakistan jersey.
Imran Khan’s party Tehreek-e-Insaf stopped inter-departmental football. Club football was given extra importance. In 2019, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif announced the return of inter-departmental football again. It is still at the discussion stage. As a result, Riaz, who was in financial crisis, was forced to leave football and go into business.
Riaz now sells jilapi in Hangu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. He had no other way to make a living. “I had no other way to make an honest living,” he said. “So instead of playing football, I decided to sell jilapi.”
“I waited. When the Prime Minister announced it, I saw hope. But this suffering is unbearable,” he added.
