Jogging, Dogs, and  Our Sports Ministry [Archives:1998/30/Sports]

In the past, I used to wake up at 4:00 am to go jogging. I always want to keep fit. But day by day, I discovered that jogging early in the morning is rather dangerous. Everywhere you run, you are met with rabid dogs, some of them, if they can’t bite you, just keep running after you. The last time I went out for jogging, one of these dogs jumped on me and tore my tracksuit. From then on, I decided not to do my favorite exercise. I want to save my health and the rest of my tracksuit so let fitness go to hell.
This accident reminds me of the situation of the sport sector in our country. Yemeni athletes do much hard work but they do not find any support. The sports clubs have become more of a place to hang around than sport institutions. The Sports Fund does not do anything worth mentioning to improve the situation. I admit that the Minister of Youth and Sport, Dr. Abdulwahab Rawah is a good man and that he tries his best to do something for the sport sector, but nobody co-operates with him.
Some really serious steps need to be taken. We need to establish training centers, and the sports clubs need to be provided with sport facilities and equipment. The athletes need more care, moral and material support. The sport sector has to be more activated through participating in local and international tournaments. All these are the first steps and they are all possible especially with a fund of YR 450 million a year.

——
[archive-e:30-v:1998-y:1998-d:1998-07-27-p:./1998/iss30/sports.htm]