PVF plans under-21 camp in early October for Asian Under-21 event

KARACHI: Pakistan Volleyball Federation (PVF) plans to hold a camp of its under-21 lot in the first week of October to prepare for the 20th Asian Men’s Under-21 Volleyball Championships to be held early next year.

“Yes, we plan to hold a camp in the first week of October,” PVF chairman Chaudhry Mohammad Yaqoob told ‘The News’ on Wednesday.

The event will be conducted in Tehran from February 20-27, 2021. This will also serve as qualifiers for the 2021 Men’s Under-21 World Championships.

“If the government did not provide us a facility in Islamabad then we will hold it in POF Wah Cantt. I have already told them that we will need the facility,” Yaqoob said.

“The players and officials will undergo Covid-19 tests before going for the camp. Precautionary measures will be taken to keep the players and the officials secure as far as the coronavirus issue is concerned,” Yaqoob said.

The PVF is facing a financial crisis and it seems difficult for it to also field its team in the 13th Asian Men’s Under-19 Championship which will be held in Shiraz, Iran, from January 9-16, 2021.

“We have that in our consideration but if the government does not assist us we will not be able to send our team to that event,” said Yaqoob, a former top police official.

“You know we are yet to pay to the travel agency Rs4.2 million. This year too we haven’t got our annual grant. We don’t have money to bear such expenses as one trip of a team costs us around Rs5 million as air-fare and other relevant expenditure are too high these days,” Yaqoob said.

Because of the financial crunch the PVF also does not seem in a position to hire a foreign coach without the support of the state. “We will go with the home-grown coach as it is not easy for us to hire a foreign coach at this stage. Yes, we can hire one if the government has any plans regarding preparations for the 14th South Asian Games to be held in Pakistan,” Yaqoob said.

Pakistan has to host the South Asian Games most probably in early 2022. The Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) is likely to help the federations in hiring foreign coaches and financing their teams’s foreign training.

Yaqoob said that PVF has requested the international volleyball governing body (FIVB) for some assistance in terms of hiring of a foreign coach. “We have written to the world body if it could help us in hiring a foreign coach,” he said.