KP Olympic Association happy with players performance

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Olympic Association President Syed Aqil Shah has said that KP showed good performance in the national games hosted in Balochistan.Talking to reporters, he said athletes made us proud by their excelling performance which was beyond their expectations.The winners would be awarded cash prize and a function will be held in their honor at the Chief Minister’s House, he added.Syed Aqil Shah said that “had funds been provided in time to the KP Olympic Association, the province would have been on the top among the provinces as far was medals winning was concerned. He said organizing games was not the responsibility of the Directorate of Sports but the Olympic Association.

Syed Aqil Shah said KP won 49 medals, most of them individual ones.“We had a squad of 437 and defeated players from Balochistan and Punjab. KP secured 7th position because of swimming otherwise it would have been at the sixth position,’ he added.Syed Aqil Shah said inter-provincial games will be played in Peshawar, for which preparations were under way as the chief minister had assured cooperation in this regard.He called for equipping Lala Ayub Hockey Stadium with international facilities, adding an inquiry should be launched into laying of allegedly a sub-standard Astro Turf there.Syed Aqil Shah said an inquiry committee has been formed for fact finding of low performance of different associations in national games, a committee consisting of Zulfiqar Butt, Amjad, Ilyas Afridi and Sara Khan. He complained that many players were issued accreditation cards without the permission of KP Olympic.

Syed Aqil Shah said the training camp should have been started six months before the games. He suggested that the Pakistan Olympic Association should change the tabulation method.Syed Aqil Shah believed that had there been inter-district games, the KP performance would have been better.He said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Olympic Association has the right to compete in sports and it should get a shooting range, velodrome for cycling, two swimming pools and more sports gymnasiums in Peshawar.Syed Aqil Shah said Sports Coaching Centers should be handed over to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sports Department. He said that after the 18th Amendment, Pakistan Sports Board was bound to hand over the management of such facilities to provinces. Syed Aqil Shah said he would contact Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to discuss the transfer of sports facilities to provinces to facilitate players in getting better training.