POA officials summoned over poor performance

Senate panel forms committee to look into affairs

ISLAMABAD:

A parliamentary committee has summoned the officials of Pakistan Olympics Association (POA) over poor performance in the Tokyo games where the country was not able to grab a single medal with 10 Olympians competing in the event.

The Senate Committee on Inter-Provincial Coordination, which on Wednesday was presided over by Raza Rabbani, also formed a committee comprising Mushtaq Ahmed, Sikandar Mandhro, and Rana Maqbool Ahmed. According to the decision, the committee would look into the affairs of the federation and elections.

Apart from the POA, the committee has also summoned javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem and weightlifter Talha Talib – both the Olympians who didn’t win any medal but won hearts because of their sheer persistence and effort despite “lack of resources”.

The officials and Olympians would give reasons to the committee on poor show in Tokyo Olympics 2020.
Inter-Provincial Coordination Minister Fehmida Mirza, who is an ex-officio member of the committee, said the POA controls the games in the country.

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Talking about the prevailing system, she alleged that an alternate federation is formed in place of a federation that refuses to vote. “The authority puts a ban on the player, whom they don’t like. The POA works as it’s whimsical, it bans a player and allows another to play only if it pleases them,” Fehmida added.

She told the committee that a few federations were given funds as per their requirements.
The minister alleged that so far no federation was genuine in the country.

Fehmida said that the previous government had appointed the director general of Pakistan Sports Board. Former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had first appointed Akhtar Ganjera as the PSB DG, she said, adding that Ganjera was facing National Accountability Bureau cases.

She accused the previous government of damaging games. The minister said that the country’s children have lots of hope from this committee and raised a demand for summoning the officials of POA and federation in the panel. “No one is above the law in this country,” she said.

About Arshad Nadeem, she said the javelin thrower was not able to train for four weeks because the latter had contracted the novel coronavirus in Turkey. In view of such a situation, she added Kazakhstan did not give permission to Nadeem for training.

IPC Secretary Hafsa Farooq claimed that employees of Grade 15 had been posted at a position where Grade 5 employees were required. “Employees from the defunct departments were sent to the sports board and employees from different departments have filed cases against us,” she added.

The secretary shared the past record of the country in games. She said that the country was in the second position in South Asian Games in 2004 and now it stands in the fourth position, adding that Sri Lanka has surpassed the country.

Farooq claimed that the “hockey federation performance is zero” despite the fact it was provided millions of rupees. She deplored at the situation of the federation not qualifying for events. The secretary further lamented the overall lack of funds for sports.

Minister Fehmida said that she’s independent in taking her decisions, alleging that previously people would interfere in ministry affairs.

Senator Mushtaq Ahmed said that Pakistan’s 70 per cent population comprises youth. “Rs1 billion worth of budget is not enough for 150 million youth. This amount should be distributed among them,” he added.

“The POA officials are national criminals. These people should be controlled,” Ahmed said.