PSB criticised for ignoring POA, federations

KARACHI: Outrightly ignoring the representation of the Olympic family in the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) Executive Committee has raised many eyebrows.

“How can you make policies and take decisions pertaining to sports when there is no representation of the federations and Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) in the PSB ExCo,” an official of an influential federation said while talking to 'The News' on Sunday.

The Executive Committee, formed a few months ago, has only five members: the federal minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC), who heads it, Secretary IPC, Director General PSB, Joint Secretary Expenditure (Ministry of Finance) and MD NESPAK.

“You know state, POA and federations are the real stakeholders. If there is no representation of the POA and the federations in the ExCo then any decision which the committee will take will be unilateral,” the official said.

Previously the POA president and a few federations used to be part of the PSB ExCo. “Ignoring POA and federations from the vital committee would create more disharmony between the Olympic family and the state,” a federation official said.

Federations sources said that the Board should reconsider its decision and induct some major federations in its ExCo so that the committee could work effectively for sports development.

Meanwhile, sources in the PSB said that the members of the ExCo have been reduced on the advice of the Prime Minister Imran Khan. “We have reduced the number of members of the ExCo and Executive Board of the PSB on the directives of the Prime Minister. And the second thing behind the decision is that previously the Board used to face various issues while conducting its ExCo session because of the presence of members who used to have affiliation with different groups and there was too much politics,” the source said.

“Moreover, the ExCo is to look into day-to-day affairs and mostly internal affairs of the Board are discussed,” the source said.

A discord has been seen between the Olympic family and the state for the last few years. During the PML-N regime, former IPC minister Riaz Pirzada extracted the representation of the POA from the PSB ExCo.

“The PSB first sided with Major General Akram Sahi and then took a U-turn by restoring the working relations with the IOC-recognised POA as a result of the Lausanne Agreement,” the Board source recalled.