34th National Games to be discussed at POA general council

KARACHI: Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) will discuss the 34th National Games in its general council meeting which will be held at Lahore on December 29.

"Yes we will take the matter into our general council meeting on December 29 to which we will also invite Balochistan," a senior official of the POA told The News on Friday. It was learnt that the POA secretary Khalid Mahmood recently discussed the Games in a meeting with the Director General of the Balochistan Sports Board in Quetta and also talked with the secretary sports of Balochistan on phone. In the meeting with the DG Balochistan Sports Board tentative dates of May 2023 were also discussed.

The POA official hoped that Balochistan would be able to host the biennial event.

There is a stay on the elections of the Balochistan Olympic Association (BOA). The POA has already told them if stay is not vacated then the NOC will form a management committee, comprising those people who are not to run for BOA elections. The same committee will conduct the Games along with the Balochistan government.

Balochistan had been awarded these Games in 2012, but due to various reasons the province was unable to host them. In 2019 the Games were shifted to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan was told it could host the Games when it was ready. The expected time-frame of these Games shows that it will help the federations to form solid sides for the Asian Games slated to be held in Hangzhou, China, from September 23 to October 8.