KCCA must have its own stadium: Nadeem Omar
Presidential candidate has state-of-art venue on top of his agenda.
KCCA officials concern is the ignorance of Karachi as a venue for the President Trophy’s initial round of matches which will be played between departmental teams. PHOTO: FILE
KARACHI:
Renowned sports promoter and administrator Nadeem Omar has said that he is aiming to build a top-class stadium if he is elected as the president of the Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA) in the upcoming elections, to be held in two weeks time.
Omar, who has acted as vice president of the KCCA as well, is vying for the post of president of the association in the country against Ijaz Farooqui.
Omar feels that the KCCA needs its own stadium which is free of problems such as water-logging and salinity and where top quality cricket can be played.
So far millions have been spent on the upgradation of the current KCCA stadium in North Nazimabad, but the expenditure has come to no avail as the outfield continues to be badly affected by water-logging and salinity.
“The most important thing for the KCCA is to have its own stadium of top quality,” Omar told The Express Tribune. “It’s shocking that in all these years, the KCCA has failed to build a new stadium despite knowing that the current one cannot be upgraded because of the poor soil quality. I’ll correspond with the provincial government and ask for a big piece of land where the KCCA’s stadium, its office, proper practice nets, swimming pool and gym can be built.”
The official added that the KCCA should be a trend-setter for the rest of the cricket associations of the country but unfortunately it has not lived up to its potential.
“There is a dire need to bring professionalism in Karachi cricket otherwise small associations will get ahead of us.”
KCCA not happy over domestic schedule
Several senior KCCA officials have expressed displeasure over the domestic schedule of the new season.
Their concern is the ignorance of Karachi as a venue for the President Trophy’s initial round of matches which will be played between departmental teams.
The officials feel that all the top players will be playing in the President’s Trophy and thus Karachi should have been in the mix from the start of the tournament as it has top-class venues like the National Stadium, NBP Sports Complex, UBL and RLCA grounds.
“PCB should’ve included Karachi for the initial stages of the departmental tournament because all the top players will be a part of it but sadly Karachi will get matches only after the first eight rounds have been completed,” said a senior KCCA official.
“The board shouldn’t sideline the biggest cricket nursery of Pakistan by giving us the matches of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy only, in which hardly any top player is participating.”
Published in The Express Tribune, October 10th, 2013.
Renowned sports promoter and administrator Nadeem Omar has said that he is aiming to build a top-class stadium if he is elected as the president of the Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA) in the upcoming elections, to be held in two weeks time.
Omar, who has acted as vice president of the KCCA as well, is vying for the post of president of the association in the country against Ijaz Farooqui.
Omar feels that the KCCA needs its own stadium which is free of problems such as water-logging and salinity and where top quality cricket can be played.
So far millions have been spent on the upgradation of the current KCCA stadium in North Nazimabad, but the expenditure has come to no avail as the outfield continues to be badly affected by water-logging and salinity.
“The most important thing for the KCCA is to have its own stadium of top quality,” Omar told The Express Tribune. “It’s shocking that in all these years, the KCCA has failed to build a new stadium despite knowing that the current one cannot be upgraded because of the poor soil quality. I’ll correspond with the provincial government and ask for a big piece of land where the KCCA’s stadium, its office, proper practice nets, swimming pool and gym can be built.”
The official added that the KCCA should be a trend-setter for the rest of the cricket associations of the country but unfortunately it has not lived up to its potential.
“There is a dire need to bring professionalism in Karachi cricket otherwise small associations will get ahead of us.”
KCCA not happy over domestic schedule
Several senior KCCA officials have expressed displeasure over the domestic schedule of the new season.
Their concern is the ignorance of Karachi as a venue for the President Trophy’s initial round of matches which will be played between departmental teams.
The officials feel that all the top players will be playing in the President’s Trophy and thus Karachi should have been in the mix from the start of the tournament as it has top-class venues like the National Stadium, NBP Sports Complex, UBL and RLCA grounds.
“PCB should’ve included Karachi for the initial stages of the departmental tournament because all the top players will be a part of it but sadly Karachi will get matches only after the first eight rounds have been completed,” said a senior KCCA official.
“The board shouldn’t sideline the biggest cricket nursery of Pakistan by giving us the matches of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy only, in which hardly any top player is participating.”
Published in The Express Tribune, October 10th, 2013.