| Ghulam Sarwar | |
| Birth Date: | 1954 |
| Birth Place: | Lyari, Karachi, Pakistan |
| Position: | Midfielder |
| Years1: | 1970s |
| Years2: | 1970s |
| Clubs1: | Emirates |
| Clubs2: | Pakistan Airlines |
| Nationalyears1: | 1969–1985 |
| Nationalteam1: | Pakistan |
| Full Name: | Ghulam Sarwar Sr. |
Ghulam Sarwar Sr. (born 1954), is a Pakistani former footballer who played as a midfielder. Sarwar played for the Pakistan national team between 1969 and 1985, and captained the national team from 1976 to 1978.[1]
Hailing from Lyari, Sarwar rose through the ranks from school football.[2] [3]
During the 1970s, several local leagues were launched across the Middle East, where several Pakistani players represented club sides in these leagues and some of these players even coached the clubs’ new youth setups.[4] Subsequently, Sarwar moved to the United Arab Emirates, where he featured for Emirates SC in the mid-1970s. He played for the Abu Dhabi based club alongside national teammate Ali Nawaz Baloch at the top-tier UAE Football League. Both also played for Pakistan Airlines simultaneously.
Sarwar made his international debut with Pakistan in 1969 and played for the national team till 1985. During his career, he visited with the Pakistan national team to Iran, Turkey, Russia, Sri Lanka, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. He served as captain of the national team from 1976 to 1978.
When Mohammad Daoud Khan was ruling Afghanistan in the 1970s, Sarwar participated twice in the Afghanistan Republic Day Festival Cup, with the Pakistan national team in 1976 and with a national selection called Shaheen FC in 1977, captaining in both editions. He also served as captain at the 1976 Quaid-e-Azam International Cup.[5]
Sarwar retired from the Pakistan Airlines department in 1998.
On 6 May 2014, The News International reported the unfortunate conditions of Sarwar at the age of 60. The amount of money he gathered after his retirement had been spent on his family. Since retirement, he had been receiving only 7000 PKR per month as pension. Apart from supporting his own family, the amount was insufficient to look after the families of his two brothers, who had died earlier. Adding to the earlier issues, his four sons were also jobless. Financial problems forced him to work with the Sindh Sports Board as a coach on a meagre monthly salary of 7000 PKR per month. He was also expecting a grant from the Sindh government which could help him to minimise his hardships.
His situation also matched with former Pakistan national team captains such as Muhammad Umer, Musa Ghazi, Abdul Ghafoor and Qadir Bakhsh, who passed away enduring similar hardship.