Abid Khan expresses his gratitude towards Farhan Akhtar, Vijendar Singh and Manoj Kumar

Abid Khan, who is a diploma holder in coaching from the National Institute of Sports (NIS), working as an auto driver and loader at the Chandigarh grain market went viral on social media. Despite being an accomplished National level boxer and a qualified coach, he ended up as a daily wage worker. Abid’s story is proof of the tragic situation of sportsmen in India.

The financial problem and resources didn’t allow Abid to continue with his passion. He had earlier said, “All these years made me believe that in this country, poor sports-persons only suffer. Boxing is for the poor and middle class, only the rich can play sports like tennis, badminton and cricket.”

When Abid’s video of his struggles went online, it caught everyone’s attention. Actor Farhan came forward to help Abid and put him back in the boxing ring, as a coach.

He was moved by Abid’s plight after watching the video and he tweeted, “This is heartbreaking yet so inspiring to see how humbly this sportsperson has coped with unfulfilled ambition. Can you please share his contact details? @duggal_saurabh”. Boxers like Vijendra Singh and Manoj Kumar also came forward to help Abid.

Abid has now started coaching for youngsters at the park near his rehabilitation colony flat in Dhanas, Chandigarh. On fulfilling his dream of coaching children, he said, “It’s good to know that people like Farhan Akhtar, Vijender and Manoj have come to support me. I’ve always wanted to do this but never got the support and resources required. As of now, I’m happy that people have started recognising me. Farhan, Vijender and Manoj spoke to me saying that they would love to see boxing champions coming out of his coaching.”

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