Muhammad Yusuf

Muhammad “S. M.” Yusuf was a member of Afghanistan’s royal Durrani dynasty, although he was born in what is now Pakistan, and represented India in hockey at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics. He began playing hockey at Government College in Lahore, now in Pakistan, but then in British India. His great-great-great-grandfather was Ahmad Shah Durrani, founder of the Durrani Empire and, arguably, of the modern state of Afghanistan.

Yusuf studied agriculture at Oxford and Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge prior to joining his country’s civil service, and was the head of the national Passport Department when he was selected to help represent his country at the 1936 Summer Olympic hockey tournament. He had helped introduce the sport to his country a mere five years prior and played in the first international match for Afghanistan, at the 1934 Western Asiatic Games against India.

At the 1936 Berlin Olympics Afghanistan placed a respectable joint 5th out of 11 squads, although Yusuf did not play in any of the matches, although his son, Muhammad Asif, played on the Afghani hockey team at the Berlin Olympics. Yusuf was, effectively, a non-playing player-coach and was later manager of the Afghani hockey team at the 1948 London Olympics.

Following his Olympic career Yusuf spent the rest of his life in government service in various positions, including Minister for Agriculture and Minister for Sports. He also served as a member of the Pakistan Hockey Federation inquiry committee which had been set up to investigate the causes of Pakistan’s failure to win a medal at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Throughout his life he held the title of Shahzada, or “Prince”.