Sports activities resume in Peshawar after five months

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Secretary Kazim Niaz on Monday reopened the sports activities at the Peshawar Sports Complex which had been banned almost five months back due to coronavirus pandemic.

Hundreds of players were standing in queues outside the main gate of the complex as the players became active again. Squash legends Qamar Zaman, Mohibullah Khan, Secretary Sports Abid Majeed, DG Sports KP Asfandyar Khan Khattak, Director Sports Female Games Rashida Ghaznavi, Project Director 1000 Ground Murad Ali were there as well.

Director Operations Syed Saqlain Shah, Director Development Niamat Ullah Marwat, Deputy Director Sports Aziz Ullah Jan, two times gold medalist of the South Asian Games Khalid Noor, Director Coaching Shah Faisal, Syed Jaffar Shah, squash coach Muhammad Waseem, Munawar Zaman, Muhammad Tahir Khan, KP Cricket Academy coaches Azizur Rehman, Bakhtiar Khan, Pervez Khan, coaches of the other games, players, organizers and office-bearers of various associations were at the venue.

Speaking on the occasion, the chief secretary said, “Today is a historical day as sports activities have resumed. He said economic and sports activities were suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, adding sportspersons acted responsibly and complied with the government's decision.

The senior official said the government had suspended sports and tourism activities to reduce the risk posed by the outbreak of coronavirus, acknowledging that the players faced hardships during these five months.

He said that the prime minister and the government policies for containing Covid-19 yielded results, which were recognized by the world as well.

The chief secretary said that the government does not want to ban sports activities again, so it is necessary for the players to follow Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), including wearing masks, social distancing and avoid contact during games so that we can succeed completely in eliminating coronavirus from our society.

He said that just as the people cooperated in the lockdown, now the SOPs should be observed in the same manner to reduce the dangers of coronavirus spread. Earlier, Kazim Niaz released pigeons, followed by a 100m sprint race.

Pervez Khan won the gold medal with his time 11.02sec, followed by Ammar with a silver medal and Osama. The chief secretary awarded gold, silver and bronze medals and assured the players that the government would continue to facilitate the players. Kazim Niaz and Abid Majeed planted saplings on the lawn of Peshawar Sports Complex and urged the players to participate actively in tree plantation drive.