Volleyball league may be launched this year

KARACHI: A senior official of Pakistan Volleyball Federation (PVF) on Thursday said that the Pro League might be launched this year to boost the game.

“It can happen this year if the things went right,” PVF chairman Chaudhry Mohammad Yaqoob told ‘The News’ in an interview.

“We are trying to organise the first event of its kind. I am going to meet a party tomorrow and another marketing company has also shown its interest. We are committed and will go for it even if we face handicaps,” said Yaqoob, also vice-president of Pakistan Olympic Association (POA).

“Initially we plan to field eight teams in which foreign players might also be inducted. Players from Iran, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh may come and join us,” the official added.

“The league is very important and it will boost our volleyball. This year our team does not have any major international commitment, so it would be very good if we launched it this year,” Yaqoob said.

The PVF official said the national junior team camp would be shifted soon to Islamabad from Peshawar.

“We will shift it to Islamabad in the next few days,” he said.

As many as 20 players are training at Peshawar to prepare for the Asian Junior Championship which would be held in Vietnam from July 9 to 17.

“We are going to reduce the number of players from 20 to 16. We are yet to receive the schedule of the Asian Junior Championship from the organisers,” he said.

To a query he said that there were a few impressive players in the camp. “There is talent, no doubt. There are a few very good players and a few of them represented various departments in the recently held National Championship in Islamabad,” he said.

Pakistan’s best performance in the Asian Junior Championship was in 2008 in Iran when the young brigade finished with a bronze medal, the first in volleyball history of the country.

Following the stunning show Pakistan junior side had jumped to the 29th spot in the world from 69th place.

Iranian coach Ali Reza Moameri was Pakistan’s coach. “That was a fine side and had been properly prepared,” Yaqoob recalled.

There is no plan of the PVF to send the juniors abroad for training ahead of the continental assignment in which players below 20 years of age will feature.

“Because of Ramadan I think we will not be able to have a foreign tour,” Yaqoob said.

He said that the PVF wanted to have a foreign coach. “I told the federal minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) Riaz Pirzada a few days ago during the National Volleyball Championship in Islamabad that we needed a foreign coach. He promised that the government would hire a good coach,” Yaqoob said.

He added that Pakistan could grab a medal in the next year’s Islamic Solidarity Games in Azerbaijan capital Baku. “If our camp is held in September and a foreign coach is hired then we can finish at the victory podium. Otherwise it would be difficult,” the official said.