Tug of war: ‘Sports officials violating SC’s order’

Zafar Abbas Lak says POA, VBA and BBA office bearers can serve only 2 terms as per SC orders.

LAHORE:

The heads of the Pakistan Olympics Association (POA), the Volleyball Association (VBA) and the Baseball Association (BBA) are in office in violation of Supreme Court orders stating that office bearers of sports associations can only serve two terms, said the president of the Tug of War Federal (TWF) on Sunday.

Addressing a press conference, Zafar Abbas Lak said that POA President Arif Hassan, VBA President Chaudhry Muhammad Yaqub, BBA President Shaukat Javed should not be allowed to retain their positions. He said that TWF General Secretary Rana Muhammad Jamil was also occupying the post in violation of the SC orders.

He said that he had asked the POA president and the TWF general secretary to accept the SC verdict and give up their posts, at which point they had started conspiring against him.

Lak, who is also the inspector general of the National Highways and Motorways Police, said that he had been elected president of the TWF for a four-year term in December 2009, but the TWF general secretary had, “in connivance with the POA president”, issued a letter on September 27, 2012, stating that new elections were being held on October 4 for TWF office bearers, except for the posts of general secretary. He said that an Islamabad 1st class civil judge had issued a temporary injunction against the elections.

He said that the poor performance of the Pakistani players at the 2012 Olympic games in London was a result of the poor performance of the Olympics Association.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 8^th, 2012.