Syed Akber Ali Wahidi, a renowned sports journalist and sports enthusiast who joined the field by compiling hockey records and statistics, breathed his last on Monday morning (April 25, 2011) at a Faisalabad hotel. On a special invitation by organiser Rai Saif ur Rehman Bhatti, Wahidi was covering the 21st National Football Challenge Cup as the PFF Media Manager. On Monday morning, he was found dead in his hotel room. Doctors blamed his death on cardiac arrest suffered during sleep.
Born on August 7, 1957 at Karachi, Wahidi did his BA in Civil Engineering from Karachi’s renowned NED University of Engineering & Technology. Instead of pursuing a career in engineering, he preferred journalism and started compiling hockey records and statistics.
Although Wahidi did not have any book of his own, he helped several key writers of the country in their works. He was on Monday evening flown to Karachi for the last rites. He left behind a widow, a young son, mother, sister, and brother as mourners.
His love for sports earned him fame and that love kept him attached to compiling statistics, records, history, and trivia related to both football and field hockey. He was often called the Walking Encyclopedia of Football. So much was his knowledge about the game that even FIFA honoured him for his remarkable memory. In 2003, he asked FIFA to put its record in order. He identified an error in records for the fastest goal scored from kick-off in a FIFA World Cup match.
He pointed out that Václav Mašek of Czechoslovakia should be in second place as he scored in just 16 seconds against Mexico in 1962 World Cup, rather than FIFA’s then-second placed record holder Bryan Robson of England who scored in 27 seconds against France in the 1982 World Cup. The fastest goal scored was recorded by Turkey’s legendary captain Hakan Şükür after just 11 seconds against South Korea in 3rd place play-off in the 2002 World Cup.
FIFA immediately acknowledged the mistake and sent Wahidi an honorary letter, thanking him for his contribution and knowledge.
In 2010, he was sent a special ticket by FIFA to visit and cover the opening match of the World Cup in South Africa, which he termed as a dream come true. Wahidi got involved in sports journalism in 1974, writing articles in Urdu and English papers. His first contribution came in his mentor Alauddin Ghauri’s Urdu magazine ‘Khel ki Dunya’.
Apart from writing articles, Wahidi also interviewed and profiled several players of hockey and football. Having an immense dedication and passion, Wahidi won great respect in sports journalism circles not only in Pakistan but also among journalists of other countries like Nepal, India, and Bangladesh. In 1992, Wahidi became personally attached with the National Football Championship, then sponsored by Lifebuoy.
In 2004, the Pakistan Football Federation acknowledged his love for the game and brought him in the PFF fold as media manager.
He directed his efforts to the promotion of the sport and the softer image of the PFF with his tremendous knowledge, writing skills, and experience and showed full commitment to the job until his shocking demise. He was never seen showing off his skills and worked diligently. He remained humble throughout his life.
He was offered the same position in the Pakistan Hockey but he remained loyal to football. His close friend in Karachi Riaz Ahmed, said that Wahidi also used to write for his Karach-based Urdu-language football gazette ‘Monthly Football Magazine’ and was also Executive Editor for some time. He also worked in the uplift of a website, FootballPakistan.com since 2001, providing it with Pakistan football news, statistics, reports, histories, and content for almost 10 years without a pause.
