KARACHI: Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) on Wednesday unveiled the departure schedule of the country’s Olympics contingent, carrying ten players and 12 officials.
The first batch of the national contingent will depart for Tokyo on July 16, POA said in a press release.
Those who proceed on July 16 from Islamabad are shuttler Mahoor Shahzad, Wajid Ali Chaudhry (badminton official), Gulfam Joseph (shooter, 10m air pistol), Ghulam Mustafa Bashir (shooter, 25m rapid fire pistol), Khalil Akhtar (shooter, 25m rapid fire pistol), Farrukh Nadeem (shooting official), Haseeb Tariq (swimmer, 100m freestyle) Bisma Khan (swimmer, 50m freestyle), Ahmad Ali Khan and Mubashirah Bano Raza (both swimming officials).
Japan-based judoka Shah Hussain will join these players and officials in the Olympic village on their arrival in Tokyo.
The country’s premier weightlifter Talha Talib, accompanied by the newly-elected president of Pakistan Weightlifting Federation (PWLF) Hafiz Imran Butt, will fly out of Lahore for Tokyo on July 21.
Talha will show his worth in the world’s major extravaganza in the 67 kg category. On July 22, athletes Arshad Nadeem (javelin throw) and Najma Parveen (200m) will depart for Tokyo from Lahore. They will be accompanied by officials Fayyaz Hussain Bukhari and Shagufta Noreen.
The Covid liaison Officer and POA medical commission secretary Dr Asad Abbas Shah and Covid Liaison Officer Javed Lodhi, also a shooting representative, will depart on July 14.
Brigadier Zaheer Akhtar, the cocntingent’s Chef de Mission and POA vice-president, and Col (retd) Nasir Tung, contingent admin official and member of the POA HR and Admin Committee, will depart on July 21. The federal minister for IPC Dr Fehmida Mirza, the POA chief Lt General (retd) Arif Hasan and secretary Khalid Mehmood will also leave for Tokyo. General Arif is in the US these days.
The Games will open on July 23.
A senior official of the POA told ‘The News’ that the name of the flag-bearer will be announced in Tokyo. “We cannot announce the name here as anything may happen because of the covid issues,” the official said.
Judoka Shah Hussain is the most experienced player and deserves to carry Pakistan’s flag during the march past of the opening ceremony.
This is the second time that Shah has qualified for the Olympics. He became the first Pakistani judoka to compete in Olympics when he featured in 2016 Rio Games.
This correspondent has learnt that Shah has not yet been informed about the Covid test process. Pakistan-based athletes and officials will undergo Covid tests for seven successive days before their departure. The rules for the Japan-based players are different.
When ‘The News’ contacted Shah Hussain on Tuesday, he did not know about the test procedure. This could create a big issue if the seasoned fighter was not guided by the responsible people in time.
Meanwhile, the POA said two Covid liaison officers would coordinate between the contingent and the organisers. Apart from those joining from overseas, all the contingent of Pakistan has been vaccinated and submitted vaccination certificates with the POA.