AFZAL JAVED
ISLAMABAD: Prominent Olympians, sportspersons, organizers, journalists and other sports stakeholders have requested Prime Minister Imran Khan to take on board to all the stakeholders on proposed national sports policy to be formulated in closed doors and should form separate ministry which only deals for sports promotion in the country.
These recommendations were formed during a seminar on proposed national sports policy made by the ministry of Inter Provincial Coordination which was organized by Rawalpindi-Islamabad Sports Journalists Association (RISJA) at a local hotel in Islamabad.
All speakers (16 in total) stressed the need of spreading the document to every section of society, be it students, cooperate, sectors, journalists, sports organizers, sports administrators or club event managers and take suggestions before the approval of national sports policy.
Those who spoke on the occasion included weightlifter Olympian Talah Talib, boxer Mohammad Wasim, Olympian Kiran Khan, Olympian Sadaf Siddiqui, Alamgir Sheikh (chairman Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association), Ijaz Chaudhry (former secretary IPC), Dr Waqar Ahmad (chairman NADO), Fahad Hussain (Resident Editor Dawn), Aqil Shah (KPK Olympic Association president), Taufeeq Ahmad (Manager Pakistan volleyball team), Mohammad Yaqoob, Abdul Majid Bhatti, Aqeel Ahmad, Abdul Mohi Shah, Ayaz Akbar (all journalists) gave a detailed resume on the proposed sports policy.
The recommendations of the stakeholders have been formulated and now these recommendations will be forwarded to the Prime Minister, Federal Ministers, Members of Parliament and other stakeholders.
Giving the feedback through video link, weightlifter Talha Talib said that full facilities should be provided to the athletes and coaches in Pakistan, the athletes do not get proper training and facilities. He said that the government should ensure the provision of facilities, sports academies should be set up in every city and maximum facilities should be provided to the sportspersons.
Talha said that he could easily have won a medal at the Olympics had he used recognized weights in training. “I did not train with the proper weights. Neither there was proper training. I could have won the medal; had I been having all these things.”
International boxer Muhammad Wasim who is heading for the USA for an international bout to make more name for Pakistan in boxing said he was never fully supported by the authorities. “Youngster want coaching and proper training. But sadly, that has never been the case.”
He said that sports in Pakistan have become very limited. There are no facilities for players in the Pakistan Sports Complex. The facility for training of boxers has also come to an end in Pakistan Sports Complex, adding that Prime Minister Imran Khan himself is a sportsman and he will definitely listen to the voices of the sportspersons.
Speaking on the occasion former federal secretary IPC Ejaz Choudhary said that we have buried any clause confronting the International Olympic Charter in 2014. We are signatory to that accord that was reached in Lausanne. It would be absolutely wasting time on repeating that mistake again. Yet I believe that federations are not doing their job properly.
“These must be proactive and should have a roadmap instead of useless clauses in the sports policy, the authorities must have come up with a clear view”, adding that what federations, Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) is required to do for development of sports and what is the role of government and Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) here, he said.
Former deputy director general Pakistan Sports Board Dr. Waqar Ahmed said that in modern day sports, biomechanics hold greater importance. “Though I have established the Lab at the PSB no upgradation has been done and neither any equipment have been installed so far. All focus is on infrastructure rather than starting the system aiming at establishment of the laboratory in the most modern way.”
Olympian Kiran Khan, Olympian Sadaf Siddiqui, Senior journalists Fahad Hussain, Mohammad Yaqoob, Aqeel Ahmed and others also presented their recommendations.
