Pakistani badminton player, Mahoor Shahzad, who represented Pakistan in Tokyo Olympics 2021, apologized to the Pathan community for hurting sentiments. She clarified in her video that her comments did not mean to hurt the sentiments of the ethnic community.
In her video released on July 27th, she said that some rival players are criticizing and opposing her for representing Pakistan in Olympics. They slandered her and her father for bribing the Pakistan Badminton Federation for her participation in Tokyo Olympics.
She had said: “…people have appreciated me, but there are some badminton players who are totally Pathans. I am number one in Pakistan, but our remaining Pakistani badminton players are very much jealous of my progress. This is like you neither want to achieve anything yourself nor do you want anyone else to do that…”
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Social media users, however, condemned the badminton player for passing sweeping statements for the entire community due to the actions of few individuals. The player released her video apologizing to the people of Pakistan for her insensitive remarks.
— Mahoor Shahzad (@OfficialMahoor) July 28, 2021
“… I apologise to all my Pashtun brothers and sisters as you’re hurt by my words. All Pakistanis are respectable to me as the position I have reached is because of my fans. But I want you to understand me as well. Some of our top badminton players started feeding negative information to newspapers about me after they realized on June 2 that I will be representing Pakistan at the Olympics.”
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“I was dubbed the blue-eyed person of the PBF and having no skills to compete in the Olympics despite the fact that I am the national badminton champion for the last five years and have beaten girls with big margins …”
“Was my plan to represent Pakistan at the Olympics a mistake?” she questioned.
She added that another female badminton player said that it was her right to participate in the Olympics. She said that players must know the rules that both the players have to be in the top 16 to participate in the Olympics if they belong to the same country. Shahzad added that her last interview was a response to the people tarnishing her image. “My remarks were not directed at the entire Pathan community. I earnestly apologize to all those who are hurt and I hope you will forgive me from the core of your heart,” she added further.