AFP to finalise plans in June

Asian Championship in India

KARACHI: Athletics Federation of Pakistan (AFP) on Saturday said that its plan for sending athletes to India for the Asian Championship would be finalised in the first week of June.

“We are working on certain things, particularly sponsorship issue. As per the quota, we can field five athletes and one official in the continental event. But being a neighbouring nation, if we get some money then we will send more than the allocated quota,” AFC secretary Mohammad Zafar told ‘The News’ from Lahore.

The Asian Championship will be held from July 6-9 at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.

He said that the selection of athletes for India’s affair would be based on the performance of the Islamic Games.

In the Islamic Games, Pakistan got one silver in the men’s 4X400m relay and a bronze in javelin throw by the country’s premier young athlete and former IAAF Under-20 world No3 Arshad Nadeem. He managed over 76m throw to lift bronze for Pakistan in Baku.

It was expected that the camp for the continental event would be held in Islamabad from June 1, but Zafar said it had not been decided yet.

“We are yet to decide about the camp,” he said.

But the serious issue which Pakistan could face in sending its athletes would be issuance of visas by Indian authorities. Recently, Pakistan’s squash and wrestling sides were denied India’s visas for international events, which has been affecting the country’s sports.

And Zafar said time would tell. “We would apply for the visas on time and let’s see what happens. It is an Asian event and we hope we will not face any problem,” he added.