Pakistan at disadvantage in the scaled-back 2026 Commonwealth Games
Paris Olympics gold medallist Arshad Nadeem to carry the flag and Islamic Solidarity Games medallist Fatima will hold the King's Baton at the Commonwealth Games Opening ceremony in Glasgow
“Pakistan is overall at a disadvantage this time at the Commonwealth Games; we don’t have athletes representing in our best sports,” the Pakistan Olympic Association and the Pakistan Commonwealth Games Association Secretary, Muhammad Khalid Mahmood, lamented as the downsized edition of the multidisciplinary sports event kicked off on Thursday, July 23, 2026.
The biggest disadvantage for Pakistan is the exclusion of wrestling, in which the country has a total of 46 medals, including 21 golds, in the Commonwealth Games campaigns since 1954, while weightlifting is another sport that has given two gold medals to Pakistan.
The scaled-back version of the 2026 Commonwealth Games has resulted from escalating costs and inflation, which forced the original hosts, Victoria, Australia, to withdraw their bid. Eventually, Scotland agreed to take on the responsibility, but with only 10 sports compared to the 20 featured in the 2022 Birmingham edition.
For Pakistan, the 2022 Games were also the second most successful campaign with two gold medals that were won by Nooh Dastgir Butt in the +109kg weightlifting category and Arshad Nadeem, who also made the record with his 90.18m throw.
Wrestlers brought home three silver medals and a bronze for Pakistan in 2022, but wrestling is one of more than 10 sports discarded from the program this time.
This time, however, the hopes for a medal are only pinned on 2024 Paris Olympics record-maker and gold medallist Arshad, while there are chances of Pakistani boxers also finishing on the podium.
“We are hoping for a medal from Arshad; other than that, we might see the boxers take bronze medals,” Mahmood told Lost on the Desk from Glasgow, where he handed over Pakistan’s King’s Baton to the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee.
Another star is judoka Shah Hussain Shah, who represented Pakistan at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics.
He will join the contingent with his Japanese coach on July 30.
Shah Hussain boasts a record of a silver medal that he won in the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games; he will want to turn it into gold in the 100kg event.
He contributed to Pakistan’s tally in the 2022 Commonwealth Games with a bronze medal.
The Pakistan Olympic Association is fielding 14 men and seven women across six sports competing in athletics, boxing, gymnastics, judo, lawn bowls and swimming. Eight officials are supporting the athletes and six contingent officials representing administration.
All travel, accreditation, accommodation and administrative arrangements have been completed in coordination with the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB), National Sports Federations and the Glasgow 2026 Organising Committee, noted a Pakistan Olympic Association press release.
Why are weightlifters missing the Commonwealth Games?
Pakistan’s top medal contender Nooh Dastgir Butt, who set the Games record with a combined total of 405 kg in +109 kg, will not be a part of the contingent because the International Weightlifting Federation suspended the Pakistan Weightlifting Federation after the International Testing Agency found at least six weightlifters guilty of doping in 2022.
The International Weightlifting Federation has sanctioned US $ 30,000 that Pakistan must pay for the ban to be lifted. However, that has not happened yet.
Nooh Dastgir Butt has been clean all his career, and he has been forced to leave his record-making career behind due to the previous corrupt administration of the Pakistan Weightlifting Federation, whose president was also handed a lifetime ban by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruling on April 2, 2026.
The Pakistan Olympic Association, therefore, are unable to help Nooh or other weightlifters because of the ban.
“This is absolutely a loss for Pakistan, but even if we wanted to we couldn’t help due to the ban by the International Weightlifting Association, if it was only a domestic issue, or it was just a problem with Pakistan Weightlifting Federation internally, we could’ve worked around it to facilitate the athletes to compete at the multidisciplinary events like the Olympics, Asian Games, or the Commonwealth Games, but if the federation is banned by the international body, we can’t help the athletes,” explained Mahmood.
How does POA decide who leads the contingent at the opening ceremony?
Olympian Arshad Nadeem and Chef de Mission Major General Adil Rehmani will lead the Pakistani contingent as the flag bearers.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Solidarity Games bronze medallist boxer Fatima Zahra will carry the King’s Baton during the ceremony.
Mahmood said that Arshad is an obvious choice because he is the most accomplished Pakistani athlete competing at the games, while Fatima was chosen because of her achievement in Riyadh last year.
“Among the men, Arshad deserves it for his achievements, and then we always think about who we can pick from among women who are in the contingent, and Fatima is the most accomplished woman athlete we have here,” said Mahmood.
On day one of the games, Pakistan saw their first loss when the 67-year-old Mohammed Ayub Qureshi lost to a 32-year-old Welsh player, Ross Owen, in the lawn bowls men’s singles sections opening fixture.
Pakistan is making a debut at lawn bowls.
Pakistan also participated in the 12th Commonwealth Sports Ministers Meeting through a delegation led by a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan and the Director General, Pakistan Sports Board, Zahid Ali. The delegation was assisted by Naila Israr, Counsellor, Pakistan High Commission in the UK, and Mahmood, Secretary General, CGA Pakistan, according to a press release.
Pakistani athletes will be competing in boxing and lawn bowls singles on Friday, July 24.
Trivia
The most successful Commonwealth Games for Pakistan were in 1962, Perth, where they won seven gold medals and one silver.
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