POA honour medal winners of CWG with cash awards

LAHORE, Apr 20 (APP):Pakistan Olympic Association here on Friday honored the medal winners of the Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast, with cash awards.
POA President Lt-Gen (retd) Syed Arif was the chief guest at the ceremony which was held at the Olympic House to acknowledge the hard work and achievements of Muhammad Inam Butt, Gold Medalist (Wrestling), Muhammad Bilal, Bronze Medalist (Wrestling), Tayab Raza, Bronze Medalist (Wrestling), Talha Talib, Bronze Medalist (Weightlifting) and Muhammad Nooh Dastgir, Bronze Medalist (Weightlifting).
“They (medal winners) are our national hero and they have made the entire Nation proud by winning one gold four bronze medals in the mega event,” said POA chief adding “The cash awards being given to them are a token of appreciation and to acknowledge their performance and commitment for bringing laurels for their country.”
The gold medal winning was awarded a cash prize of Rs300,000 and the bronze medal winners each got cash prize of Rs100,000.
The POA chief also announced a cash prize of Rs100,000 each for the coaches of the respective medal winners.
He said Letters of Appreciation were also awarded to Pakistan Wrestling Federation, Pakistan Weightlifting Federation and WAPDA. Four medalists belong to WAPDA whereas one is from HEC.
“As our medal winners put in hard work their coaches also deserve praise for inspiring them to achieve excellence which is evident that our country won five medals in the Games,” said Lt-Gen (retd) Arif Hasain.
He said the POA would urge the government and all other stakeholders to give handsome monetary awards to the medalists and also recommended the name of Muhammad Inam Butt for the Pride of Performance award.
The POA chief also suggested that the government should provide International standard infrastructure for wrestlers and weightlifters at Gujranwala for training of the potential medalists/ Olympians of future.
“It is also right time that the PSB provides complete financial support to National Sports Federations to ensure participation in the Olympic Qualifying Round with an aim to qualify and strive for medal in 2020 Tokyo. It is imperative that both PSB and WAPDA hire the services of foreign coaches to enhance the skills of our weightlifters and wrestlers to bring more laurels for the nation,” he asserted.
He pointed out that it is great honour for WAPDA that four medalists including Gold Medal winner Muhammad Inam are their part. “Congratulations to Lt-Gen (retd) Muzammil Hussain, Chairman WAPDA and his team for doing excellent job for the promotion of the games in the country,” he said adding “My appreciation to Dr Mukhtar Ahmed, Chairman HEC since Tayab Raza belongs to the HEC – a student of University of Central Punjab Lahore.”