Baseball event awaits security clearance

Asian federation to assess situation before thumbs-up.

KARACHI:

The development of sport, and not just cricket, in Pakistan now rests on the security situation of the country with the Asian Baseball Federation (ABF) the latest body to review the situation before approving the country as host.

According to the Pakistan Baseball Federation (PBF) Secretary Pervaiz Shah Khawar, a three-member ABF team arrived in Lahore yesterday and will review the security arrangements for three days before the four-nation South West Asia Cup in Lahore starts from March 23.

The tournament will serve  as a qualifying round for the Asian Championship that is scheduled for November.

Khawar explained that the ABF’s visit is part of their procedure although they had already cleared Punjab Stadium as the venue last week. The tournament features Iran, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka as well as the hosts. India had confirmed their participation but their government refused to allow the team to travel to Pakistan.

Khawar said that it was extremely important for the PBF to satisfy the officials and meet the requirements as the event can still get cancelled if the security arrangements were not up to mark.

“Getting security clearance is very important and we have been very careful about it,” Khawar told The Express Tribune. “The ABF had appreciated our efforts last year when we hosted the inaugural South Asian Base ball Championship.”

Pakistan will play the opening match of the event against Afghanistan on March 23 with Sri Lanka taking on Afghanistan the following day. Pakistan then face Iran on March 25. All teams will play three matches each and the top two will qualify for the March 28 final. The finalists will also qualify for the Asian Championship where they will join Japan, Taiwan, China and South Korea.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 21^st, 2012.