Naqvi left behind a history of sports

MUSCAT: The name Sayyid Sibtain Naqvi, fondly known as SAS Naqvi, who recently passed away in Muscat, is sharply synonymous with the game hockey and players across the globe have something or the other to cherish about with the legend.

The former technical advisor to the Oman Olympic Committee (OOC) but left the sports lovers across the world with a rare collection pieces from the past that stands signpost to the historic moments the game in Oman and India thus reliving a glorious past on the walls of his house which was called a museum while he was alive.

On the white walls of his two-bedroom apartment near Bait al Falaj area in Ruwi, there sleep the history of Oman’s sports projecting hockey as a national game in the forms of images, certificates, badges and pins, awards and accolades and what more, the bags and suitcases that he used to carry whenever he represented Oman at international sports meets. It is a huge canvas where the portraits of achievements at the Asian Games, Olympics, World Cup and the like are portrayed dominated by the recognitions he received both on the home soil and abroad.

“This museum was born years ago from my fear that all the objects, pictures and letters that marked the growth of sports in the Sultanate of Oman would go unnoticed after my death. I have given special focus on hockey because it’s my life and I have been breathing hockey for more than eight decades,” an emotional yet energetic Naqvi 'Saab', the first official coach of Oman hockey team told the Observer in an earlier interview.

His collections also feature his moments with Oman’s ministers, sports council members, interaction with Dhyan Chand, a great hockey player of all time, photographs of his meetings with Presidents and Prime Ministers of India where he represented the game, among others. He was also the key strength behind the formation of the OOC.

SAS naqvi Sports museum was officially inaugurated on October 15, 2018 by Shaikh Dr Hammad Hamed al Ghafri, who is now a member of the Supreme Council and former president of the OOC. A number of both Omani and Indian sports stars have already visited Naqvi’s ‘Wall of Fame’ and were wowed by the diverse collection and attention that he has paid to the details. Tayyib Ikram, CEO of Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) and member of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) executive board was one of the key people who was delighted to see more than 75 years of hockey career and the Olympic moments that Naqvi had in his collection.

The AHF chief had flown from Switzerland as a special guest and many top ranking sports personalities have been so impressed with the collections of Naqvi.

Hockey legend and former Oman coach Tahir Zaman had also visited the museum.

It has acquired the recognitions of international bodies FIH and AHF along with the Oman Hockey Association.

Naqvi first arrived in the Sultanate of Oman on July 1, 1982, to join the national hockey team as the official coach to steer the team to participate in the Asian Games held in New Delhi.

That was the beginning of the nearly 4-decade-long association with Oman sports where he spent nearly 36 years promoting the Oman Olympic Committee, sports and hockey in the country. Naqvi was later promoted to the position of Technical Advisor to the OOC. It was Naqvi who managed the affairs of the Oman delegation to the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, 1988 Seoul Olympics, 1992 Barcelona Olympics, 1992 Atlanta Olympics and the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

The immense contribution of Dr Hammad Hamed al Ghafri is something to be highlighted, according to Naqvi.

“It is Dr Hammad who helped me build a special hall to establish the museum. Without his support and guidance, nothing would have been possible. These vignettes of the history of sports in Oman will be depicted and presented to the visitors and to the next generations to come.”

"This museum which stands as the memoir of my father will remain as a museum and maintained as it was for the sportslovers of the Sultanate of Oman and beyond," his son Inayat Naqvi said.