ISLAMABAD, Aug 23 (APP):The Federal Coordination Committee of Sports (FCCS) wants Pakistan Olympics Association (POA) top officials to go home (resign), as it had not played any role for the betterment of sports in the country but has instead resulted in the decline of Pakistan’s sports for the last several years.
The FCCS fifth meeting was chaired by the Federal Minister of Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) Dr. Fehmida Mirza here and was attended by members of the Coordination Committee including sports representatives from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Balochistan, Gilgit Baltistan and Punjab, said a press release here.
Federal Secretary IPC Mohsin Mushtaq and Director General Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) Col (R) Asif Zaman were also present at the meeting.
All the participants expressed concern over Pakistan’s performance in the recent Olympics and said that POA has failed to perform its duties.
The main reason for the decline in the Olympics of Pakistan’s games and the dismal position was because of POA President Lt Gen (R) Arif Hasan and secretary general Khalid Mahmood. All the representatives at the meeting stressed that POA president should resign from your post for the betterment of sports.
The minister said there was no structure of sports governance in the country and it was important to have a National Sports Policy for sports improvement. “The government is introducing a new National Sports Policy for the betterment of sports very soon and the opinion of all stakeholders is being incorporated in this regard.”
It was also agreed in the meeting that POA was not playing its role and an opaquely elected president and secretary general has been a loss for Pakistan’s sports for the last several years, in this regard an ad hoc committee should be formed.
Punjab Secretary said he was focusing on sports from grass-root level and several new projects and events were being organized in Punjab for the betterment of sports.
Additional Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa said there should be transparency and he agreed with the policy of the government and more work was being done for the betterment of sports in the province.
“There is a need for sports policy in the country,” said a representative from Sindh province, adding that “We need a policy that can work on the development of players individually.”
Representatives of Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Balochistan also said that the policy was needed for the development of sports in the country. They also asked for the resignation of POA president and secretary.
