Ministry okays 305-member contingent for South Asian Games

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry for Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) has approved a 305-member Pakistan contingent for the 13th South Asian Games and has sent a summary in this respect for Prime Minister’s approval.

Akbar Durrani, Secretary IPC, confirmed to ‘The News’ on Monday that a 305-member contingent had been approved by the Ministry. “Since the Prime Minister is the final authority, the summary has been sent for his approval,” he added.

The IPC secretary said that the Ministry would be in a position to share the details on the expected Pakistan contingent by Thursday . “We hope to get the summary back from the PM Office by Thursday after which we would be in a position to share the details,” he added.

The Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) wanted the government to financially support 423 members for the Games believing that any cut in numbers would hurt Pakistan’s chances of winning medals at the Games.

Meanwhile, the POA was in final stages of sending entries of the 423-member contingent that it had finalised for the Games after getting a couple of days extension from the organisers in Nepal. It is not clear what the fate of the remaining 118 members would be.

It is not yet clear whether federations are ready to pay their daily allowances or will prefer applying cut on the already finalised squads.