Mehwish Hayat on Friday evening paid a surprise visit to the Abdul Sattar Hockey Stadium to witness the ongoing matches of the National Hockey Championship.
She arrived at the stadium with her brother, surprising everyone, including players and tournament officials.
The ‘Gangster Guriya’ of the film ‘Baji’ was welcomed at the stadium by Hanif Khan, Iftekhar Saeed, and Haider Hussain, who briefed her about the ongoing championship.
Mehwish also met players and coaches participating in the tournament, asking if they needed any support.
Former Pakistan captain Rehan Butt suggested that showbiz stars should give hockey players an equal amount of importance as they give to cricketers.
“We only expect you to promote hockey as ambassadors. When you do a show, invite some hockey players there as well just like you invite Kamran Akmal or Mohammad Aamir,” Rehan Butt suggested.
Mehwish agreed and said, “We talk a lot about cricket. We must realise that we have won more titles in hockey than in cricket. We have won four World Cups and three Olympic titles.”
“We are too much focused on cricket. Hockey needs our focus as well,” said the film star.
Mehwish was also well informed about the history and decline of Pakistan hockey, and, probably that is why she opted to support the game.
“Once we were number one in hockey, but now we are at our lowest. We are now even struggling to qualify for the Olympics. I believe that government must take drastic steps to revive hockey in Pakistan,” she said.
The award-winning artist agreed that showbiz celebrities must play a role to support all the neglected sports by highlighting the achievements on their respective forums.
She added that mainstream media and social media attention is very important to help any sports grow.
“I am also surprised that the national tournament of hockey is not getting broadcast live anywhere. How can we expect games to achieve glory without live broadcast? We need to work to save the national sport,” she said.
“Hockey being our national sport needs our attention. We all need to come together to support hockey,” Mehwish added.
