May 7, 2003	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 4, 1424

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LAHORE, May 6: Pakistan Sports Board (PSB)’s decision  of stopping the annual grant of 15 national sports federations was received with mixed reactions on Tuesday.

PSB at its executive committee meeting decided to stop the annual grants of bodies such as basketball, cycling, judo, kabaddi, rowing, handball, table tennis, swimming, weightlifting, volleyball, wrestling, football, shootingball, karate and billiards and snooker, for not implementing the national sports policy.

President of Pakistan Volleyball Federation (PVF), Chaudhry Mohammad Yaqoob, told Dawn that the decision had been taken in haste. He said that PVF was ready to implement the new sports policy, but did not initiate it because the matter was pending in court.

Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) has filed a  case against the national sports policy.

Yaqoob added that the deadline to implement the policy had not yet lapsed and taking the decision before it was unfair.

Secretary of Pakistan Cycling Federation (PCF), Khawaja Idrees Haider, expressing his views stated that by taking this decision, PSB had decided to ruin sports in the country, the standard of which was already below par.

He asked if the government and opposition could hold talks on national issues such as the LFO, why couldn’t the sports ministry, the POA and national sports federations get together and resolve the dispute in an amicable manner.

He further added that the decision would not serve to create a better understanding between the government and sports federations which was absolutely necessary.

Naveed Mahmood, president of Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF), said that his federation had not received the grant last year also.

However he declined to comment on the PSB decision.

Pakistan Rowing Federation’s secretary, Nazir Bajwa, pointed out that it was the PSB’s prerogative to give the grant or not. He stressed that this was the age of sponsorships and every federation was running on sponsorships and not by PSB funds.

Pakistan Wrestling Federation’s secretary Chaudhry Mohammad Arif alleged that PSB was biased in its attitude as it had not included some federations in the list.

 He pointed out that Professor Anwar Choudhry was also running the boxing federation for many years but the sport was not included. He was of the opinion that the government should make fair and impartial decisions.

However, surprisingly, PSB has also included basketball in the list of those federations whose grant has been frozen for the same reason.

After a decision of the Supreme Court it is yet to be decided which is the genuine body of basketball. The Supreme Court had declared the ad hoc body imposed by PSB on national basketball federation as unlawful.

But that ad hoc body is currently organizing the national basketball championship. As the ad hoc body had been declared as unlawful, therefore, there is no national  basketball federation existing in the country, then why this game had also been included in the list?