Task Force on Sports to submit proposals to PM soon

ISLAMABAD: The Task Force on Sports finalised its recommendations for the Prime Minister Imran Khan’s consumption following an important meeting held in Islamabad on Monday.

Ehsan Mani, the head of the Task Force on Sports, confirmed to ‘The News’ that he had finalised the recommendations. “We held an important meeting in Islamabad today. We have finalised our recommendations for its submission to the Prime Minister,” he added.

“We are now in process of writing the final paper that would be submitted with the Prime Minister soon,” he said.

Mani, who is also the chairman of the PCB, said that the paper would be submitted with the PM before engaging stakeholders in consultation. “Depending on the availability of the Prime Minister under whose instruction the Task Force was constituted, the draft would be submitted for his consumption. After getting the guidance from the Prime Minister, the draft would be circulated among the stakeholders for their input and opinion,” he said.

Mani said that sports promotion was a lengthy process. “There is no one pillar attached to sports promotion or to streamline sports in the country. We have been looking at every aspect,” he said.

Secretary Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) Jamil Ahmad also confirmed that the draft had almost been given the final shape. The Task Force will not hold any further meeting till the time the proposed draft gets Prime Minister’s approval or observations, he added. 

“It is one of the important tasks for IPC to streamline the sports system in the country. We have been meeting regularly and have discussed different aspects,” he said.The Task Force on Sports is also contemplating making structural changes in the PCB and chances are that the Board may witness major shake-up on all fronts in days to come.

“Structural changes in the PCB will be considered and approved by the highest authorities in days to come,” a ministry official said. The Task Force was formed to look into the reasons behind the decline in Pakistan’s performance in different sports and to suggest ways and means to improve it.

The decision came following a briefing held at PM House recently with IPC minister Dr Fahmida Mirza briefing the PM on federations’ work and the reasons behind the poor performances at the recent Asian Games.