ISLAMABAD: Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) Dr Fehmida Mirza on Monday said the sports federations will have to deliver if they want Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) to support them.
“While living within our limited resources we’ll also support the federations, who are still far behind from the required level of promoting their respective sports. But if they expect that the PSB will dole out millions of rupees to them despite poor performance at the international level then it will not be possible,” the minister, who is also president of the PSB, told APP.
The minister added that currently 19 federations have been identified, which would be supported by the board.
“We’ve decided to support these federations, keeping in view their performance.
“We’ll have to revive sports culture and for that we will back only those federations, who are involving youth in sports activities,” she added.
Fehmida said that the fake federations with an aim to make money would no longer be able to exist when there would be no support from the PSB.
She said that there had been a great setback to the sports activities in the past and owing to that almost every sport had taken a reverse gear.
“I believe we will have to revive sports culture and for that we must promote sports at the grassroots level.”
The minister said that after the 18th Amendment sports had become a provincial subject, adding that it was responsibility of the provinces to take steps for promoting sports in their areas. “They (provinces) will have to play their role. They will have to take sports to the school level to gauge aptitude of future players for different games.
“The kids at the school level show their interest whether they want to play tennis, football, hockey, cricket or any other game. Hence, it is imperative that schools encourage them and make sports an essential part of their curriculum,” she added.
The minister added that it has been decided to hold a sports diplomacy conference in a couple of months to find out ways for promoting a healthy sports culture in the country.
Fehmida expressed her hope that experts and professionals at the conference will give valuable input, which would help prepare a comprehensive roadmap for promoting a healthy sports culture in the country.