POA, Army, Balochistan officials to meet in Ramadan

National Games

KARACHI: A high-level delegation of the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) is expected to meet the top functionaries of the Balochistan government and Army in Ramadan to discuss important matters relating to the National Games which Balochistan is to host later this year.

“Our delegation, which will include the POA chief Lt Gen (retd) Arif Hasan and vice-president Chaudhry Yaqoob, will visit Quetta to meet Balochistan IGP, Chief Secretary, Sports Minister and Corp Commander to discuss various matters relating to the Games,” POA secretary Khalid Mehmood told ‘The News’ on Thursday.

“We will seek their input on the dates which will be suitable to them for holding the mega event,” the official said.

“We will be taking up the issue at the highest level as it is very important for holding the competitions. We will also meet the Chief Minister of Balochistan,” Khalid revealed.

He said a couple of people from the former Balochistan Olympic Association (BOA) would also be part of the meetings.

It is pertinent to mention here that the elections of the BOA are likely to be held in July.

The elections had been planned in late May but the authorities decided against that because of some legal complications which the POA said would be sorted out soon as per its constitution.

Khalid said that the support of Army would be immensely important because of the security risks in Quetta.

“The BOA would not be able to organise the event without active support of Army,” Khalid said.

A few days ago a former official of BOA told this correspondent that it would not be possible for Balochistan to host the slots at the end of this year due to cold weather.

But Khalid said the last week of October would be suitable. “Ramadan is approaching and in August preparations for the Asian Beach Games will be made. In September the Asian Beach Games will be held in Vietnam. I think that the last week of October will be appropriate,” Khalid said.

When asked whether it would not be difficult for Quetta to host the event because of lack of infrastructure, Khalid said the city had hosted the Games before and competitions had been held in 25 disciplines.

“It is not necessary that competition in every discipline is held there. For example if they don’t have swimming or shooting facilities these events can be organised in Karachi. Competitions in some disciplines may be held in Dera Murad Jamali and Gwadar,” he pointed out.

“If competitions are organsied even in 12 disciplines it will be legal,” Khalid said.

The competitions of athletics and football will be held at the Musa Stadium which is located in the well-guarded cantonment area of the Balochistan capital.

A few days ago former Balochistan IGP Chaudhry Yaqoob told this correspondent that he was confident the Games could be held there in the best possible way.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa successfully organised the National Games in 2010 — a time when Peshawar was on the hit list of terrorists.

The POA’s senior vice-president Syed Aqil Shah was then KP sports minister and head of the KP Olympic Association.