KARACHI: Despite a two-month extension to implement the 2005 National Sports Policy, the Pakistan Olympics Association (POA) President General Arif Hasan is worried that the international governing body may still take action against the violation of its charter before the London Games.
The official added that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will hold a meeting this month to decide its course of action.
The government-run Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) had won the case of policy implementation, which bars an official of any national body to have more than two tenures with each not lasting for more than four years. Its stance stems from the claim that the POA falls under the PSB’s umbrella, forcing it to implement the National Sports Policy. However, the IOC, which strongly discourages government interference, refused to accept the PSB’s claim, stating that the POA is an affiliated unit of the international body.
As the issue gained prominence, the IOC summoned officials of both parties, asking them to resolve the issue amicably. While the PSB remained adamant on its stance, it also gave a two-month extension to the POA to implement the policy amid danger that Pakistan will not be allowed at the London Olympics.
“The IOC board will hold a meeting on July 20 or 21,” said Hasan. “The matter will be discussed and anything can happen. We have a precedent of a ban on Kuwait and Ecuador. We want an amicable solution as all the arrangements on our participation in the Olympics have been finalised.”
The POA chief stressed that due to the tenure restriction by PSB, other national federations were facing similar threats of suspension from their global bodies from where they get hefty grants. He also blamed the decline of sports in the country on the PSB.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 11th, 2012.
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