November 19, 2002	Tuesday	Ramazan 13, 1423

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KARACHI, Nov 18: Arch-rivals Pakistan and India may face each other in the boxing ring in a regional tournament in Dubai, UAE, a top official said Monday.

“Indian boxing officials, in principle, have agreed to take part in the tournament but are waiting for a clearance from their government,” Prof Anwar Chowdhry said.

The boxing supremo said although a Dubai-based television company was keen to host the contest, hesitation from the Indian side was the bottleneck.

“Since Indian hockey officials have shown interest to play Pakistan in Singapore, I will be pressing the Indian boxing authorities to come to Dubai.

“If Pakistan and India can play hockey at a neutral venue, why not boxing. If they get permission by their (Indian) government, I will give a green signal to the organizers,” he said.

Pakistan recently received an invitation from Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) for a series in Singapore. Sporting links between both the countries have been hit hard due to political tension on Kashmir issue.

Pakistan and India last played annual home and away hockey series in 1999.

Chowdhry has proposed the Dubai television company which also sponsors cricket in Sharjah, to organize contest involving Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal carrying $5,000 cash prize for the winning boxer and $3,000 for the runner-up.

The PABF official, who leaves Tuesday for Monte Carlo, USA, to attend a meeting of the General Assembly of International Federations (GAIF), will be visiting Dubai to accelerate his efforts for holding the event which is expected to generate huge revenues.

The event, if held, will be great crowd-puller due to large number of Pakistani and Indian expatriates living there.