BOA-POA meeting on May 7

KARACHI: A two-member delegation of the Balochistan Olympic Association (BOA) will meet the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) in Lahore on May 7 to discuss the involvement of the former in the 33rd National Games which will be held in Quetta from October 7-14.

The BOA delegation comprises its president Afzal Awan and secretary Sher Mohammad Tareen.

It is pertinent to mention here that Afzal Awan-led BOA is facing a legal challenge from a parallel body led by Shah Nawaz Marri.

Awan group’s election was held in July last year but recently the notification of that election results was suspended by the court.

This correspondent has learnt that back-to-back hearings would be held on May 8 and 10.

Sources said that if the issue was not resolved before the National Games, it could create a serious trouble for the POA and Balochistan government.

Afzal Awan group is affiliated with the POA. The group of Shah Nawaz Marri is affiliated with the Balochistan Sports Board.

A source of the Afzal Awan group told this correspondent on Sunday that they were hoping that the legal issues would be resolved before the National Games.

The source was quick to add that if the matter was not resolved they would ask their associations not to cooperate with the organisers in holding the competitions.

A delegation of the POA met the Balochistan government and military officials the other day in Quetta and announced a fresh schedule of the National Games, which were scheduled to be held last winter but were postponed because of the volatile security issues in the most troubled province of the country.