Federations split over proposed sports policy

ISLAMABAD: The country’s sports federations are divided on the outlines of a National Sports Policy (NSP) to be framed after deliberations and input hinted to be sought by the Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) minister before its formulation.

Athletics Federation of Pakistan (AFP) President Maj Gen (r) Muhammad Akram Sahi said the only objection the federations have on the National Sports Policy (NSP) 2005 was the tenure restriction which bars any official from holding any top seat for more than two tenures.

“If this restriction is enforced on any federation or association then a parallel body is being created by those officials who damage the game,” he said.He said the solution to the major issue lays in the strict enforcement of this policy by IPC Ministry and Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) to purge the sports from those who remain glued to the federations to enjoy perks and privileges.

Pakistan Bodybuilding Federation (PBF) President Sheikh Farooq Iqbal said before implementing the NSP, IPC and PSB must ensure that the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) only recognises those federations which are registered with the PSB. “There are some federations which are affiliated with PSB and not recognised by POA and vice versa.”

He said that the POA’s president was holding the office for more than four tenures but nothing was improving.

Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Federation (PBSF) President Munawar Hussain Shaikh said first of all there must be fixed prize money set in NSP for players receiving cash awards against medals won in any event.

“Snooker has no fixed cash prize money which demoralises the cueists despite winning laurels for the country on a number of occasions.He said the snooker academies at Karachi, Quetta and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa could be established in the premises of PSB centers to get rid of private clubs where players go for training and heavy amount is incurred.

Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) General Secretary Lt Col Muhammad Nasir Ijaz Tung said the IPC and PSB must give attention towards youth development for which requisite guidelines and financial resources be dedicated to drag them back to healthy activities. The electronic gadgets like video games, tablets, smart phones were ruining the physical and moral health of the youth.

He said schools and colleges must be attached with sports clubs and games must be annual part of the extra-curricular activities to involve and groom them at grassroots level.Pakistan Kabaddi Federation secretary Muhammad Sarwar said a monitoring mechanism in a new revised policy must be introduced for judicious utilization of monetary resources.

POA secretary Khalid Mehmood said before a final draft of the NSP the International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s rules and workings must be considered for making it an error-free policy to achieve desired goals.

Responding to a question regarding restriction of tenure of office-bearers, he said PSB had agreed to leave it to the federations to decide on their own.

However, a Pakistan Sports Board’s (PSB) director requesting not to be named said: “If PSB compromises on tenure restriction ‘i.e. two times’ what implementation can they enforce on the other clauses of NSP. This will give more freedom to the federations and a few will be at liberty to maneuver the situation for personal gains.”“There must not be a third time opportunity to hold an office to ensure positive change for the betterment of the sports,” he remarked.