Participation in South Asian Games after govt nod: Pirzada

KARACHI: The federal minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) Riaz Hussain Pirzada on Tuesday said that the relations with India were sensitive and the consent of the government would be needed before fielding the national contingent in the South Asian Games in India in February.
“There is still plenty of time and we will seek the consent of the government before taking any decision,” Pirzada told ‘The News’.
He said that on Monday the Prime Minister also said that no one should take any step in connection with sports relations with India without permission from the government.
He said the ministry had already written to the affiliated federations of the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) that they should not go to India for any sports event without the permission of the Board.
The biennial spectacle which is expected to have 4000 athletes from eight countries will be held from February 6-16 in two Indian cities, Guwahati and Shillong.
The event was due in 2012 but was postponed several times due to various reasons.
Bangladesh staged the last edition in 2010 in Dhaka.
Besides hosts India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives and Bhutan will appear in the slots.
The competitions would be held in 25 disciplines with 17 of them scheduled to be held in Guwahati and eight in Shillong.
Despite the uncertainty in connection with Pakistan’s participation, the preparatory camps are in operation at different centres of the country.
The Indian Olympic Association’s (IOA) president Narayanaswamy Ramachandran last month assured the Pakistan Olympic Association’s (POA) chief Lt Gen (retd) Arif Hasan that he should not worry as the organisers had managed the things. They met during the meeting of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) in Washington.
The POA chief raised the security issues and insisted that a security delegation of Pakistan should visit all sites and venues where the security officials should brief it.
Arif also desired a separate meeting with India’s security personnel in charge at the government level.
About the football federation controversy and FIFA’s stance, Pirzada said that the government would decide its stance in the light of the decision of the courts. “We have written to FIFA that the government of Pakistan respects its rules and regulations but it has to respect courts,” Pirzada said.
FIFA’s executive committee in its meeting in September in Zurich decided that Faisal Saleh Hayat-led Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) be given two years, until September 2017, to revise the PFF statutes and hold elections.
However, there are several matters still sub judice.
When Pirzada was asked about POA’s elections, he said the government would not interfere in anything.
“We will stay neutral and not interfere in the POA elections,” he said.
The POA elections are due in February next year. It is highly likely that Arif Hasan will retain his seat as POA chief for a fourth successive time.