Development work at PSB coaching centre to begin by month-end

KARACHI: Much-awaited development work at Pakistan Sports Board (PSB)-owned coaching centre is likely to be started by the end of this month, 'The News' learnt on Tuesday.

During the first phase, the construction of flats for the staffers would be started, said an official.

A team of PSB officials visited the centre last week and finalised the plan for development work, sources said.

The development work related to the tartan track, the multipurpose sports complex, the indoor gymnasium, the old boxing gymnasium, and the hostel rooms would be started in February 2022 and completed in June, sources said.

The centre has been in a dilapidated condition for more than one decade. Many sports facilities were either incomplete such as the sports complex or needed replacements.

The tartan track is more than 25 years old and the indoor gymnasium is three decades old.

Sources in the PSB said that installation of floodlights, laying a new tartan track, a football ground, a sprinkling system, the completion of the boxing gymnasium, and the construction of flats for employees were part of the development plan.

Sources in the PSB said that the federal government had finally decided that the existing facilities would be improved and some new facilities would be added.

The tender process for these development works have been completed.

The old red tartan track, which was laid in 1996, will be replaced. The condition of the football ground encircled by the track will be improved.

The multipurpose sports gymnasium project, on which 80 percent work has been done, will also be completed.

Sources said that development work would be started with the construction of 12 new flats.

Sources also confirmed that floodlights would be installed and four large towers would be set up so that athletics events and football matches could be organised at night.

The mountain near the old seating area would be removed to build a new arena for spectators, sources said.

The centre was neglected by successive governments, but the PTI government finally decided to improve and maintain the infrastructure so that not only the private sector could organise events but local, provincial, national and international competitions could also be held.

Hundreds of private schools, colleges, and universities regularly organise events at the centre, as a result of which PSB earns a handsome amount annually.

Annually PCB national coaching centre earns around Rs5 million through private sector competitions.

The badminton and table tennis hall and the old boxing gymnasium would also be renovated, sources said.