Constitution doesn’t empower PSB to ban any federation or its officials

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) Constitution 2022 that is operational these days does not empower the Board or the Ministry for Interprovincial-Coordination (IPC) to impose a ban on any sports federation or its officials for failing to come up to the government’s expectation.

This correspondent has gone through the entire PSB 2022 constitution under which the Board works these days (till the time Cabinet approves a fresh 2024 constitution which also does not have such clause), there is no clause which empowers PSB’s board or director general to impose ban on any sports federation or its officials.

Thus the recent ban on Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) President Mohammad Khalid Mehmood and Secretary Lt Col (r) Nasir Tung is unlawful and an act taken beyond the constitutional powers entrusted upon the PSB officials.

A few days back, the handout published on the PSB’s website showed the committee handing over the ban on the PBF officials without the PSB 2022 Constitution clause supporting any such ban.

This correspondent could not find a single clause in the constitution giving such powers to any committee or an official. ‘The News’ returned to enquire about the relevant clause from PSB DG Yasir Peerzada and Deputy Director General Shahid Islam to share the 2022 Constitutional clause under which the ban was imposed.

The first message in this regard was sent on Saturday through WhatsApp which was repeated on Sunday morning. The messages were seen out but the officials did not come up with any clause that empowers the official or any committee to impose any such ban. After getting no response for two days, this correspondent has no option but to write the story on this illegal or extra-constitutional ban. Once the PSB or any official from the ministry shares that ‘clause’ it will be published accordingly.

The second glaring miss by the PSB-formed committee recommending the ban was that the grieved party was not given the opportunity to furnish its side of the story on the circumstances that led to Navy boxer and blue passport-holder Zohaib Rasheed’s skipping during the middle of Olympic Qualifying round in Italy.

The Asian Boxing Championship’s bronze medalist Zohaib had already sought NOC from his department and hence was holding the official passport that should have been in the custody of his department, otherwise.