POA seminar on sports today

KARACHI: In a bid to identify the major reasons of Pakistan’s sports downfall and how it could be put back on the right track, Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) is going to hold a seminar “The way Forward” in Lahore on Sunday (today).

The POA also held a seminar in September last year in Lahore in which representatives from major stakeholders and sports experts were invited.

The POA chief Lt Gen (retd) Arif Hasan said at a press briefing here a few days back that the POA would hold such a seminar in Karachi too in March-April and then in Islamabad.

He had said that the POA would be in a better position to prepare a document which would then be presented to the federal government so that a solid step could be taken for reviving the country’s sports, which Arif said had been on the decline since 1962-64.

Arif would chair the seminar which will start at 10:30am at Avari Hotel in the Punjab capital.

“The seminar shall be the platform for various national sports leaders to present their views on multiple aspects of sports including sports development, devolution of sports, sports industry and sponsorship, incentives to the sports industries – tax issues, sports in the universities, role of departments, services, women in sports, anti-doping policies and role of media in the development of sports”,” the POA said in a press release on Saturday.

It added that all provincial sports ministers, secretaries sports, directors sports, presidents and secretaries of national sports federations, directors and secretaries of services and more than three hundred delegates of departmental organisations, business communities, industrialists, Olympians, sports legends as well as parliamentarians and media shall be with the POA on this occasion to share their valuable suggestions with an ultimate goal to move forward in right and positive directions.

“Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) has kindly consented to grace the occasion as chief guest and inaugurate the seminar on January 29,” POA said. The seminar will continue till 6pm.