Arif-led POA to get Olympic House keys soon

KARACHI: Arif Hasan-led Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) is expected to get its Olympic House back in the next few days, it was learnt on Thursday.

Haider Farman of Kuwait, a member of International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), is expected to arrive in Pakistan in a few days.

He will receive the keys from Akram Sahi group which occupied the premises in September 2013 when the dispute between Arif-led POA and Pakistan’s government deepened.

“It is not yet known when Farman is coming to Pakistan, but hopefully the issue will be resolved this month,” POA secretary Khalid Mehmood told ‘The News’ from Lahore on Thursday.

Handing over keys to the genuine POA through the IOC and the OCA representatives is one of the clauses of the agreement made among IOC/OCA and POA and Maj Gen (retd) Akram Sahi, the president of Athletics Federation of Pakistan (AFP).

The agreement was reached at a meeting of OCA president and IOC member Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah with Akram Sahi and Arif Hasan in Lausanne on October 17.

The second clause of the agreement is that Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF) led by Col (retd) Shujaat Ali Rana, Sahi-led AFP, Kokab Nadeem Waraich-led Pakistan Cycling Federation (PCF) and Mudassar Arain-led Pakistan Netball Federation (PNF) would be re-admitted into the IOC-recognised POA.

These federations are recognised by their International Federations (IFs). They will have to inform the POA about their willingness to re-join.

The POA is to make sure that the applications of these four federations are favourably considered.

In order to resolve the parallel bodies issue, the IOC will once again verify the status of all federations in Pakistan through the respective international bodies before the POA’s elections.

If there is doubt about the legality of any federation the IOC will recommend that the respective international body send its representative to Pakistan to assess the situation and take a final decision which will be binding on all parties concerned. The status of around 13 federations is disputed.

The Sahi group will have to withdraw all cases pending in various courts.  The POA also decided on Thursday to postpone its executive committee and general body meetings which it was going to hold in Lahore on Saturday (tomorrow).The meetings will now be held on December 30 and will discuss the Olympic movement in Pakistan, the country’s participation in the South Asian Games and elections of POA.  The POA has to conduct its elections before February 3, 2016.