June 15, 2003	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 14, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, June 14: What happens when the players, media and other guests get invited to a function where a minister is to be the chief guest? You do what is thought to be quite normal in this country - wait!

That is what everyone had to do on Saturday morning at the Library Hall of the Pakistan Sports Complex where sports minister Rais Munir Ahmed was to give away prizes to the medal winners of the Commonwealth and Asian Games.

Tick, tick, tick. From what was to be a 10.30am start, the event began ‘just’ one hour late only after the minister arrived much to the relief of the players and other guests who had been sweating in the congested hall where the airconditioning system did not appear to be working.

While the wait was on, the guests were first told that the minister was in some kind of a meeting with Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali. Later, when he arrived, it was announced that he had got stuck in the National Assembly.

But the minister himself did not find it appropriate to apologise to the waiting guests for being late. Instead, he chose to deliver what was a tame speech, the gist of which was the cliche of government being keen to promote sports.

The speech followed with what was a hurried presentation of cheques to the players who won medals at last year’s Manchester Commonwealth Games and the Asiad in Busan.

However, weightlifter Muhammad Irfan, who was to receive the biggest cheque of Rs 600,000 for capturing three silver medals in Manchester was not there. Also not present was the gold winning boxer Haider Ali, whose award of Rs 500,000 was given away to his brother.

Muhammad Sarwar, whose hockey team won a Commonwealth bronze collected cheques for Rs 100,000 each on behalf of his team-mates while marksmen Irshad Ali and Zahid Ali Khokhar picked up prizes of Rs 200,000 and Rs 100,000 respectively.

On the Asiad list Mansoor Zaman took home Rs 200,000 for capturing a silver medal with Shahid Zaman getting Rs 100,000. Also getting cash were cueists Saleh Muhammad, Muhammad Yousaf and Noween Perwani, rower Muhammad Akram, boxer Muzaffar Iqbal and the kabaddi team, all of whom had clinched bronze medals in Busan.