IJF-recognised PJF blasts newly-formed parallel body

KARACHI: Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF), led by Col Junaid Alam, on Tuesday termed the parallel body formed by former PJF secretary Mehmood Naveed as fake and illegal.

The PJF requested the government to stop the activities of the illegal body.

Mehmood got himself elected as chairman while federal minister Abid Sher Ali was chosen as president of the body whose elections were held in Lahore on Monday, according to media reports.

“Our elections were held in the August this year in the presence of International Judo Federation’s (IJF) representative Gerard Benone from Switzerland who had been deputed by world judo governing body and had been invited by PJF and Pakistan Olympic Association (POA),” PJF vice-president and media director Masood Ahmed said in a statement on Tuesday. “All formalities before Gerard’s arrival in Islamabad were coordinated by Pakistan Sports Board (PSB).

“The meeting of our elections held in August was chaired by the PJF former president Col (retd) Rana Shujaat Ali who had completed his two tenures as chief of the federation. Around 26 members of the affiliated units of PJF had taken part in those elections,” Masood said.

He claimed that the elections were held under the supervision of an impartial election commission, headed by retired judge Muhammad Alam Zeb Khan.

“In those elections Pakistan Army’s Sports Directorate Secretary Col Junaid Alam was elected as president of PJF while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mansoor Ahmed was elected as secretary for a four-year term,” Masood added.

He said that it had been learnt through media that elections of PJF were held on Monday in Lahore in which names of respectable personalities like minister of state for water and power were used by Mehmood Naveed who had claimed to be the chairman.

“There was no value of any such elections in the presence of already exiting legitimate body,” he said.

“In that so-called electoral meeting no bona fide affiliated units, provinces, departments, PSB, POA, IJF were represented,” he added.