New sports board in the offing

ISLAMABAD: The Task Force formed by the Prime Minister to overhaul the country’s sports system is going to recommend establishing a Sports Skill, Infrastructure and Educational Development Board.

‘The News’ has learnt that the proposed board would ensure sports development while keeping all the elements connected.“The Task Force is contemplating raising a Sports Skill, Infrastructure and Educational Development Board which will be responsible for major games development on all fronts and in every nook and corner of the country,” a source said.

The Task Force members believe that the existing Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) has failed to achieve the goals for which it was constituted. “We don’t think that the required results can be obtained through the existing system. A major shake-up is required to streamline affairs.. Nowhere in the world where results come thick and fast is the system based on personalities. A professional system ensures that each component of that particular system works independently. That is the proper way to make the system result-oriented,” a source said.

Only those workers and employees who would be useful for the new system would be retained, he added. The Task Force is in final stages of formulating its recommendations that would be forwarded to the Prime Minister.

The main focus of the new Board would be to look after the leading games played and followed in the country. These include hockey, squash, football and tennis. “The Board would not be a governing body. It would be there to help the leading federations fetch sponsors and look after much needed finances,” the source confirmed.

The Prime Minister expressed concerns about sports standard in the country during a recent meeting of the Task Force and directed it to chalk up a strategy for overhauling the existing system.