The ‘World Sports Craze’ is the brainchild of Pakistan’s veteran sports journalist, Mr. Muhammad Ali, who has been part of the national print media for more than three decades. The idea for the sports website and sports e-paper/digital paper— www.worldsportscraze.com ––– was conceived in 2010 and materialized in 2023, with national physical print media fast declining. Different factors, which have decreased the popularity of physical print media, are electronic media and social media’s popularity due to fast and large coverage, digitalization of national newspapers, low literacy rate in the country, lack of advertising in physical print media, more glamour attraction on electronic media as it is a money-spinner and it attracts eyeballs, and above all, e-newspapers and digital newspapers are easier to access than buying a physical newspaper from a stand. Perhaps the biggest factor of digitalization is that Pakistan’s youth are no longer interested in or inclined to pick up a physical newspaper. If a young man or woman were to be asked about the last time they read a physical newspaper, a typical response would be a shrug of the shoulders. May be physical newspapers in Pakistan, but not all, cease to exist in the coming years, with e-newspapers and digital newspapers replacing the physical ones. Thus, digitalization is the future, as it is gaining popularity with each passing day.
The aim of www.worldsportscraze.com is not only to provide international and national sports news, sports analysis, articles, columns, and interviews but also sports e-paper and digital paper for all ages who like a physical newspaper but don’t want to buy it. Thus, www.worldsportscraze.com is all about sports!
Mr. Muhammad Ali was born and grew up in Lahore. Educated at prestigious institutions in Pakistan: Cathedral High School Lahore, a Christian Missionary School; Government College Lahore (now Government College University); and the University of Lahore. Mr. Muhammad Ali obtained a Master’s degree in Political Science, a Bachelor’s degree in Law, and completed his Master in Laws (LLM) in Pakistan. He played cricket at club level and table tennis at national level for seven years. He was awarded School Colour, College Colour, and Roll of Honour in table tennis. He taught politics, international relations, and Pakistan history at different academies of Punjab. He started his career as a journalist in the early 1990s with the Frontier Post, a daily national English newspaper. He also worked as Editor Sports for The Nation and The Sun International (both daily national English newspapers). He also worked as Editor Sports for the Daily Times, a daily national English newspaper, from 2001–2023. Besides travelogues and human rights issues, Mr. Muhammad Ali has written a number of research-oriented articles on Pakistan sports, which have been duly acknowledged by the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA), Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), and Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF). His work has also appeared in the Gulf News of the United Arab Emirates.
Mr. Muhammad Ali has compiled and edited two books:
i: Pakistan Sports Achievements in Asia, 1947–2013 (published in 2014)
ii: Pakistan Sports and Heroes (published in 2022).
Mr. Muhammad Ali can be reached at mali319@hotmail.com