Tribal areas delegation to demand separate status at National Games

KARACHI: A 60-member delegation of ex-FATA Olympic association, featuring secretaries and presidents of 30 associations, meet Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Senior Minister Atif Khan on Monday (today) in Peshawar to demand separate status for the tribal belt during the 33rd National Games slated to be held in KP from October 26 to November 1.

Shahid Shinwari, a senior official of now defunct FATA Olympic association, said they would request that a separate contingent of FATA should be allowed in the National Games.

“FATA has huge talent. We don’t want the region to suffer. If there was no separate contingent of FATA in the National Games, it would be unjust because the belt has produced numerous top players in various disciplines,” Shinwari told ‘The News’.

“If our request was not granted we would then play on the roads on the day when National Games would open,” Shinwari said and added that after meeting with the KP Senior Minister their plan was to also meet KP Chief Minister Mehmood Khan. “It is a sensitive issue and we will do whatever we can to attain justice for the talent which FATA possesses,” Shinwari said.

He said players of tribal areas and office-bearers of associations opposed the proposal of the merger of FOA into KP Olympic Association.

“Abolishing FATA Olympic Association will increase the sense of deprivation of the tribal youth who suffered because of insurgency and militancy in recent years,” Shinwari claimed. It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) has approved the merger of FATA and KP bodies.

It has been officially announced that a joint contingent of FATA and KP would field in the National Games. Meanwhile, all stakeholders will meet in Peshawar on Monday (today) to review the preparations made for National Games.