Talib asks govt to call sports heads to devise plans for post-corona events

KARACHI: Pakistan’s former athlete and most experienced coach Muhammad Talib has urged the PTI-led government and all provincial governments to make a plan for running the country’s sports in the post-corona world.

While talking to ‘The News’, he said that sports are going to be opened in the near future in a number of countries as either lockdown has been lifted or softened.

The sports authorities have announced their programmes according to the need of the hour. But here in Pakistan apart from cricket and hockey, all sports disciplines have been idle since early March when corona cases started growing in Pakistan, he said and added that this inaction would severely affect players’ abilities.

Talib said it was time the federal and provincial governments call all heads of Olympic associations, federations and associations to find out the solutions to the problems that coronavirus has created for sports.

He was of the view that protocols were being devised for all walks of life, but no one was thinking about sports. POA, provincial Olympic bodies should come forward and start those sports activities which are possible.

Training and coaching can be started for several sports, including athletics, table tennis, tennis, basketball, volleyball and squash, he said.

“The immune system can be made strong through sports, so why aren’t the authorities taking benefit of this difficult period to educate our citizens? They should tell people how important sports are for us to fight against deadly viruses and other ailments,” he said.

He said that if sports authorities did not start their due work on this issue Pakistan would lag behind at international sports events in the coming high-level competitions as other countries have started their preparations.

Talib announced that his Athletics’ Fitness School (AFS) at Abdul Sattar Edhi Hockey Stadium would be opened after Eid-ul Fitr holidays with preventive measures.