Tension looms ahead of POA elections

Athletics, hockey federations at loggerheads over candidates.

KARACHI: The Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) elections, scheduled to be held in Islamabad today, have taken an interesting turn at the last-minute, as relations between the Athletics Federation of Pakistan (AFP) and the Pakistan Hockey Federation have apparently turned sour.

AFP President Major General (retd) Akram Sahi and his counterpart in the PHF, Qasim Zia, had previously united to oust the Arif Hasan-led POA and were backed by the government — the Pakistan Sports Board and the Inter Provincial Coordination.

Leading up to the elections, Sahi was nominated by the majority to be the candidate for the POA presidency where he will vie with Qamar Zaman and Nadeem Aftab. It was reported that Khawaja Farooq Saeed would be the secretary with Zia supporting the candidacy.

However, it has now been learnt that Zia’s group has gone back on their word and nominated Olympian Rana Mujahid as their secretary candidate, while Colonel (retd) Zafar Ahmed will be in the running as well.

“Zia’s group has tried to ditch us but we’re sure
that our candidates will win the election,” an official of Sahi’s group told The Express Tribune.

“Saeed is a strong candidate and would be a competitive opponent even if Mujahid is in the running. We were not expecting them to show their true colours at such a crucial stage.”

The official said that they are expecting a close contest for the top slots but Sahi remains a clear front runner.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 5^th, 2013.

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