The 2020 Olympics

Japan has started preparations for the 2020 Olympics. The country held a countdown ceremony to mark 1,000 days until the opening ceremony of the evernt. This is indeed a good sign to promote games at an international level. The 2020 event will also feature five more sports, including sports climbing, surfing, skateboarding, softball and karate. The preparations are in full swing. Now let us look at what the Pakistan Olympics Association (POA) has done so far to prepare for the event. The answer is that the association has adopted a laid-back attitude.  There is a dire need to start preparation for this mega event. There is a sufficient time for training and grooming of participants to bring them at par with international players.

The sports minister in collaboration with chief ministers of all provinces must form committees which should be assigned to submit quarterly progress report of players/athletes so that timely action can be taken to deal with players’ weaknesses. In order to evaluate preparations of participants, Pakistan must hold pre-Olympics by mid 2019. The selection of participants must be on pure merit to ensure promising results.

Engr Riaz Akbar ( Wah Cantt )