PBF plans to hold Olympics Qualifiers

KARACHI: The Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) is planning to host the London Olympics Qualifiers which will see pugilists from over 50 Asian countries in action.

In a meeting with the National Assembly standing committee on sports, the PBF President Doda Khan Bhutto informed that the federation has already sent an application of the bid to the International Boxing Federation (AIBA) for hosting rights of the event in Karachi in March 2012.

The sports committee meeting that was held at the Pakistan Sports Board in Islamabad yesterday also probed the Pakistan Table Tennis Federation (PTTF) about its performance while the Pakistan Body Building Federation (PBBF) officials skipped the meeting.

Bhutto said that the PBF fulfills almost 80 per cent of AIBA requirements to hold the event and only needs government support to get hosting of the pre-Olympic Qualifiers.

He informed that the bid will cost $150, 000 while the event will take an estimated cost of around Rs70 million. The committee, while appreciating the idea assured its all out support in helping the PBF acquire the hosting rights.

Iqbal Muhammad Ali, the chairman of the committee also praised the PBF for holding the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto International Boxing Tournament that saw participation of boxers from 24 countries in Karachi last January and added that it played a huge role in portraying a soft image of the country.  In the meantime, the committee grilled the PTTF over a walk-over controversy that put Pakistan out of the World Table Tennis Championship in May.

Pakistan conceded the walk-over in the event that was held in Moscow after the team reportedly showed up late in their second-round match.

However, the PTTF president Riaz Ahmed told the committee that the event was misreported as Pakistan reached the venue before the scheduled time and it was a harsh decision of the organisers.

Published in The Express Tribune,  July 13^th, 2010.