Punjab Games to finally kick off

LAHORE: The Punjab Games, which will see around 2,500 athletes participate in various events, will finally be held on September 18 to September 20 in Lahore after being mired by setbacks.

The events as well as the venues for the competitions were decided by the Punjab Olympic Association (PbOA) at a meeting at the National Hockey Stadium.

The Games, which were scheduled to be held in April this year in Peshawar, were postponed due to security concerns along with a freeze of funds from the Pakistan Sports Board. But the PbOA took matters in their hands and called all their stakeholders, including secretaries of associations, the sport board and government officials to streamline to make headway to finally hold the event.

“We have finally finished planning the Punjab Games and its disciplines, venues and all the arrangements for the 71st edition of the tournament,” said Secretary Punjab Olympic Association Khawaja Idris Haider after the meeting. “Male participants from eight zones around Punjab will be taking part in 20 disciplines, while female participants
will compete in eight disciplines.”

“We also directed all the secretaries of the districts to hold competitions ahead of the event to prepare a strong team from their zone,” maintained Haider.

Logistics

The eight zones competing in the games are Lahore, Gujranwala, Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Multan, Bahawalpur and Dera Ghazi Khan.  A total of 23 venues that include the All Punjab Sports Board accredited complexes as well as various schools and collages have been considered for the three-day event .

Published in The Express Tribune, August 5^th, 2010.