Sports
Pakistan’s athletes suffer from lack of sports medicine | The Express Tribune
He believes better nutrition and medical care can prevent athlete burnout and produce champions built to last
Rizwan Ahmed Aftab (left), CEO of Activit and Director at National Hospital DHA Lahore, with Olympic gold medalist Arshad Nadeem. Photo: ACTIVIT
KARACHI/LAHORE:
Pakistan’s renowned dietician, RD Rizwan Ahmed Aftab, Director at National Hospital DHA, Lahore, and Founder/CEO of Activit, emphasized that Pakistan is lagging far behind in the areas of nutrition and sports medicine.
The country has seen world-class athletes go to waste due to a lack of proper medical care for their injuries, while there is a history of athletes in football and bodybuilding, where poor care led to their deaths.
While there is a batch of athletes that are capable of winning medals at the international events, and even the Olympics, like Arshad Nadeem, and Commonwealth Games Champion Nooh Dastgir Butt, among others, there is a dearth of expertise in sports medicine that can ensure longevity to the top crop’s career, improved performances, and timely treatment.
RD Rizwan has been closely involved with the country’s top athletes as a sponsor. He took the athletes in the program, where they serve as ambassadors for the supplement brand he developed, Activit.
The athletes also get lifetime free treatment in the National Hospital DHA, Lahore, which was founded by his father and renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr Aftab Ahmed.
On the sidelines of an MMA event earlier this year, RD Rizwan spoke exclusively to The Express Tribune on the subject of sports medicine.
“There is a medicine zero sports medicine element in Pakistan,” Rizwan told The Express Tribune. “When we speak about sports medicine, the latter word is medicine. Now you define this as two parts.
The pharmaceutical side of it and the nutraceutical part of it.
“So, in the nutraceutical side of sports medicine, the most studied nutrient is creatine monohydrate, which athletes can use. It is not an anabolic, androgenic steroid that enhances their muscles or red blood cells to give them enhanced performance…but the majority of the athletes in the world use some sort of chemical enhancement, if they get caught, they get caught, if they don’t get caught, they don’t get caught.”
He gave an insight into disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong, who took the banned EPO medicine, a pharmaceutical drug, which is known for blood doping, and it is widely abused to enhance endurance.
There are drugs, like EPO that Lance Armstrong used, that increase red blood cells, and the more red blood cells you have, the more oxygen carrying capacity you have that gives you more stamina,” he explained.
But there are more developments in sports medicine that can help athletes, such as collagen peptides, which are not banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
He explained that there are better ways to treat athletic injuries now, but some of the most advanced treatments, like stem cells for sports injuries, are still too expensive and not available in Pakistan.
“There are new ways to treat athletes when they get injured. Like peptides, which are a chain of amino acids. So they can be useful.”
But at the end of the day, Rizwan said that it’s the organic food that should be available to athletes to build their bodies that can compete in the international events, with top talent.
“The primary thing is organic, good quality food and not supplements,” he said.
“If you are not having your food checked, the proper amount of calories that you need, calories you are burning, the dehydration process, you are sweating. How are you spending the magnesium, potassium, and sodium? The amount of protein you need to maintain or build your muscle.
All of this is a proper science. You calculate it per kg of your weight, how many carbohydrates you need, and which type of carbohydrates you are taking. Are you consuming good fats or not?
“Every athlete has a different way of consuming calories. It is a complete science. There is no such attention to these details in Pakistan.
“What we do have, maybe in the Pakistan Cricket Board, that athletes are told about it to eat this, and not that, this much body fat you must have, but as such, this is an area where we need a lot of work.”
He added that only micronutrient deficiency can be treated and covered through supplements.
Meanwhile, Rizwan has also been involved with Arshad Nadeem since 2023, when he was looking to get the javelin thrower as an Activit ambassador and sponsor him. Still, the athlete’s coach, Salman Butt, insisted that the support should come in the shape of medical facilities and treatment.
Arshad went on to win the Paris Olympics gold medal and broke the Games record as well.
But Rizwan had been instrumental in treating Arshad’s long-standing injuries before the Olympic glory.
Arshad’s primary surgeon, who treated his elbow and knees before the Olympics and to date, is Rizwan’s cousin. The two have formed a system where Arshad’s CT and MRIs can get done at the National Hospital DHA, which is a world-class facility and equipment, and they are sent abroad, to the United Kingdom, where Bajwa resides and practices medicine.
“When I thought of taking Arshad Nadeem as a sponsored athlete in 2023, his coach, Salman Butt, said that they needed treatment. When they go to the UK, they get things, but those same facilities are not available in Pakistan. He told me that I have such a big institute for treatment, and they needed an environment where MRI and CT scans can be done, and we can send them abroad.
“Arshad’s treatment could have happened in Pakistan as well, and the surgery too, but our surgeons said that it is better for the surgeon who is already treating Arshad to carry on treating him, as they can understand the patient better, and it would be better to have Arshad’s surgeries with his primary surgeon in the UK only.
Initially, Arshad’s surgery was treated by Dr Ali Raza Hashmi, who was the protege of my father, Dr Aftab Ahmed. He was the one who pinpointed the issue. “But Bajwa did a great job.
“Dr Ali Bajwa and I have decided that Arshad can get biological treatment for everything with us.”
PULLMAN, Wash. — Washington State forward Emmanuel Ugbo, who is currently under a court order resulting from allegations of stalking and harassment, has been suspended for the remainder of the season.
Coach David Riley told reporters this week that Ugbo, who has neither played nor practiced for the Cougars since he was suspended on Jan. 28, will sit out the rest of the way.
“As an institution,” Riley told reporters, “we believe that’s the best course of action.”
Ugbo was accused by a Washington State women’s volleyball player of stalking and harassment after she ended their relationship. Last week, a Whitman County judge granted the woman a full protection order against Ugbo.
Ugbo’s suspension began with Washington State’s home game on Jan. 31, shortly after the woman filed for a temporary protection order. Ugbo averaged 6.7 points and 3.5 rebounds in 18 minutes this season. He previously played for Boise State.
Sports
Anthony Richardson free to seek trade after injury setbacks amid Colts’ shift to Daniel Jones
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Anthony Richardson Sr.’s future in Indianapolis faces more uncertainty than ever.
The Indianapolis Colts granted Anthony Richardson, the team that used the fourth overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft on the quarterback, permission to explore a trade. His agent, Deiric Jackson, confirmed the latest development in the 23-year-old’s tumultuous career to ESPN on Thursday.
Veteran quarterback Daniel Jones beat out Richardson in a preseason competition for the starting job. Jones made the most of another opportunity as an NFL starter, helping the Colts win eight of their first 10 games of the 2025 regular season.
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Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson heads off the field after an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024 in Denver, Colorado. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
However, his season was ultimately derailed by an Achilles injury. The setback came two years after he tore an ACL with the New York Giants. The Colts appear ready to move forward with Jones, clouding Richardson’s future in Indianapolis.
Jones is set to become a free agent in March, meaning the Colts must either use the franchise tag or sign him to a new deal. Richardson has started just 15 games in three seasons with the Colts, his tenure largely shaped by injuries.
A shoulder surgery limited Richardson to four games during his rookie campaign, while a series of setbacks cost him four games in 2024.
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson (5) looks for an open receiver during the game against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium. (Troy Taormina/Imagn Images)
Richardson suffered what was described as a “freak pregame incident” during warmups last season, landing him on injured reserve after attempting just two passes in two games in 2025. He has thrown 11 touchdowns against 13 interceptions in his NFL career.
Colts general manager Chris Ballard said Tuesday that the vision problems stemming from Richardson’s orbital fracture last October are “trending in the right direction.” He added that Richardson has been “cleared to play.”
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson (5) celebrates his touchdown against the New York Jets during the fourth quarter at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Brad Penner/Imagn Images)
Riley Leonard, a sixth-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, is expected to return to the Colts next season.
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When asked about Richardson’s standing with the Colts moving ahead, Ballard replied, “I still believe in Anthony.”
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The German word of the week in the Bundesliga ahead of Saturday’s showdown (live at 12:30 p.m. ET, on ESPN+) is not the marketing invention der Klassiker but rather die Aufholjagd (literally, “the hunt to pursue”).
There are in all honesty, very few, even here in the bustling Ruhrpott this week, who believe Borussia Dortmund are likely to make up nine points on leaders Bayern Munich. With the goal difference equation stacked in favor of the Rekordmeister, that is the challenge facing BVB with only 11 games left. But a head-to-head Gipfeltreffen (summit meeting) offers a chance for a new perspective.
Dortmund have spent much of this season under Niko Kovac defying stereotypes: showing a more stable face, grinding out wins, pressing better, reemerging as clearly the second-best team in the Bundesrepublik.
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But on Wednesday night in Bergamo, the old problems came back to haunt die Schwarz-Gelben, and the team collectively had to Lehrgeld zahlen (literally pay up as a result of being taught a painful lesson) after being eliminated by Atalanta in their knockout round playoff tie in the UEFA Champions League.
Whether Dortmund can translate those lessons — among them, don’t start a big match so passively and Gregor Kobel, don’t give the ball to the opposition with extra time looming — into something successful against a team of Bayern’s sheer quality, is another matter.
Bayern are almost certain to break the Bundesliga’s single-season goal-scoring record (they have 85 goals and need 17 more, a mere bagatelle surely?) Harry Kane requires 14 between now and mid-May to surpass Robert Lewandowski‘s 2020-21 benchmark of 41 league goals. The Englishman has registered a Doppelpack (double) in each of his past three league matches and if he stays fit, you would not bet against him becoming the most goal-rich winner of the Torjägerkanone award ever.
With Michael Olise scoring freely and more importantly, assisting others, and Luis Díaz posing significant problems for opposing sides, Bayern win most games by overwhelming and obliterating. Nobody does it better.
There is, however, a slight glass-jaw quality defensively, which has been evident since January, with only one Bundesliga clean sheet so far this calendar year.
Augsburg for example, have gone to the Allianz Arena and beaten them, Hoffenheim caused them bother even while down to 10 men, and last week Eintracht Frankfurt scored a couple of late goals that Bayern fans, anticipating an easy win, will have seen as nervig (irritating).
At the time of writing, it is unclear who will stand between the posts for the Rekordmeister. Manuel Neuer has been working all week in a bid to get back into the side after sustaining a calf muscle injury at the Weserstadion nearly two weeks ago.
However, Bayern have faith in 22-year-old understudy Jonas Urbig, who looks ever more like the future custodian. Urbig stumbled in the Augsburg game, but his performances have ranged mostly from good to excellent.
If there are any doubts about Neuer’s fitness, it would seem foolish — given the eight-point difference at the top and crunch Champions League matches ahead — to take a chance. Alphonso Davies is out for the foreseeable future with a muscle fiber injury, but with Konrad Laimer available again, Vincent Kompany has plenty of squad depth in the fullback positions with Josip Stanisic and Hiroki Ito.
It almost seems unfair to Dortmund, given the colossal task that they face on Saturday, that right wing back Julian Ryerson is suspended. The Norwegian, once viewed as an honest journeyman, has transformed himself into one of the most valuable players in Kovac’s squad.
Diligent in normal play, Ryerson’s deliveries from open or set play situations can be devilish and he recently crafted all four goals in the same game against Mainz. Yan Couto, more adventurous going forward but less secure defensively, must fulfill that role against Bayern.
At least Nico Schlotterbeck will return to anchor the Dreierkette (back three) in front of Kobel, whose 11 clean sheets top the Bundesliga goalkeeping charts. BVB will require energy and guile in abundance from Marcel Sabitzer and Felix Nmecha in midfield against the formidable duo of Joshua Kimmich and Aleksandar Pavlovic.
Saturday is due to be another day of Verkehrschaos in Dortmund and there have been a few recently. This one is due to industrial action by the trade union, Verdi, knocking out the Stadtbahn (city train/tram service) and bus lines. Fans have been urged to walk the 40 minutes from the Stadtzentrum (city center) to the Signal Iduna Park.
Thereafter, there’s a very real danger that in 90 minutes, Dortmund’s season could effectively disappear in a puff of smoke. Already out of the Champions League and the DFB-Pokal, defeat in the Klassiker would make an Aufholjagd unthinkable.
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