PSB yet to find full-time DG after Ganjera’s retirement

KARACHI: After the retirement of Akhtar Nawaz Ganjera, Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) has been unable to get a full-time Director General so far.

According to sources, the acting Director General of PSB Amir Ali Ahmed will leave the Board on Monday (tomorrow) as he has some lucrative offers from other sectors.

Amir had assumed the additional charge of DG PSB on retirement of Ganjera in February this year.

A highly credible source in the PSB told ‘The News’ that Amir is being replaced by Rana Shakeel, a Grade-20 officer in the accounts section of the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) as acting DG PSB.

A few months ago, the PSB Executive Committee had amended the recruitment rules of the DG PSB in a bid to bring in such a person who would have relevant qualification and experience. It had been agreed that a person with Masters degree in sports sciences and administration and with experience of sending national contingent abroad will be eligible for the DG PSB post. However, a candidate with PhD will be preferred.

Sources said that so far no progress has been made in that direction. According to rules, the post of DG PSB must be advertised.

The caretaker government will take charge by June 1 but the fate of the key post of PSB is still not clear.

The Board has a tough task ahead that of facilitating national athletes during training for the Asian Games and sending them to Indonesia to feature in the Asiad from August 18 to September 2.

Meanwhile, Deputy Director General Technical of the PSB Syed Habib Shah also got retired the other day. The former international athlete had joined the Board as instructor athletics in 1982. The Board plans to arrange a farewell dinner in his honour.