New sports body to be formed soon

POA to push for formation during National Games.

KARACHI:
Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) Vice-President and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Sports Minister Syed Aqil Shah has said that a Pakistan Sports Authority will be formed as he stressed the need for a body in order to reform the country’s sports policies.

Shah was Pakistan’s chef-de-mission for the 2012 London Olympics and said that a meeting on this matter will be held during the upcoming National Games. Pakistan have not won an Olympics medal since 1992 and was the biggest country, in terms of population, to return empty-handed from last month’s London Games.

But Shah said that the plan now was to have a body comprising all provincial sports ministers as its core members to ensure transparency on distribution of funds. It is believed that currently the funds are not being distributed equally by the Pakistan Sports Board which is hurting various sports.

“Discussions will be held on forming the new body,” Shah told The Express Tribune. “It will happen soon as it is vital for better results in major international competitions.”


Shah rejects hockey coach claims   

Meanwhile, Shah rejected claims by hockey team’s chief coach and manager Akhtar Rasool who blamed him for the Greenshirts’ Olympics failure.

Rasool said that the chef de mission’s statements before and during Olympics discouraged players. However, Shah termed it ‘nonsense’.

“If I was the reason for the failure, what about the team’s performance in other tournaments?”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 7th, 2012.
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