Pakistan vows to create athletes pool

Athletics Federation of Pakistan vows to provide enough backup following the absence of Pakistan sprinters from CWG.

LAHORE: The Athletics Federation of Pakistan (AFP) has vowed to provide enough backup following the absence of Pakistan sprinters from the Commonwealth Games after ten athletes failed drug tests.

With the current backup deemed not good enough to provide medals in the Games, the Pakistan Olympic Association decided against sending an athletics contingent to New Delhi.

“Next year we’re planning three rounds of junior championship to find athletes and also form a backup pool,” AFP Secretary Khalid Mehmood told The Express Tribune. “We’re missing out on the Games and are very disappointed but remain confident to recover in the next twelve months.

“Our first target is to find the best prospects from national championship. The second is to promote them at the South-Asian Federation Games and the third is to allow them to compete at a top event like the Commonwealth or the Asian Games and the Olympics.”

Most of the athletes that tested positive complained of the lack of awareness of using the banned drug and blamed the federation for not providing enough guidance. Mehmood, however, refused to accept responsibility.

“The athletes being unaware of the offence, that is impossible to believe. Most of them have participated various times at international events. How can they be unaware of not using banned drugs. We’ll ensure that we have a group of untainted sprinters and avoid missing participating at international level. I’m confident that by 2012 we’ll recover from this and will ensure that the Pakistan flag will be visible.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 1^st, 2010.