Friday, March 22, 2013

Zakir Hussain: Passing of a great man

Former director general of Pakistan Sports Board and sports analyst Zakir Hussain Syed. PHOTO: EXPRESS 

(EDS  NOTE: Zakir covered the Azlan  Shah Cup in Ipoh last week and sat next to me.  I have known him for a long time as he is quite a regular at the Azlan Shah Cup in recent years. He gave me his calling card and said if I ever was in Pakistan, do visit him and he will be glad to accommodate me. RIP my friend...) 

ISLAMABAD:  Former director general of Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) and sports analyst Zakir Hussain Syed passed away on Thursday at Fatima Jinnah Park where he was on a routine evening walk. He was 73.
His funeral will be held on Friday at 2:30 pm at his ancestral town Kotli Amir Ali, Sialkot. He was awarded the President’s Medal for the Pride of Performance. He was the first recipient of such a highest honour in sports administration and management in the country.
Zakir Hussain was the first Pakistani chief executive of the PSB. As the youngest ever director general of the board, he came to this organisation as a virtually unknown commodity and left behind a legacy of success and brilliance.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 22nd, 2013.