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| July 11, 2003 | Friday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 10, 1424 |
Summary on fate of 9th SAF Games sent to PM
ISLAMABAD, July 10: A summary has been sent to the PM Secretariat for a decision on whether Pakistan should actively pursue to regain the hosting rights of 9th SAF Games, it was officially learnt on Thursday.
“A summary is indeed awaiting decision by the PM as to whether the concerned officials should actively make efforts for regaining the hosting rights of 9th SAF Games in its capital city”, according to an official in the Ministry of Sports.
The Ministry of Sports had prepared the summary after improvement in the circumstances which had earlier forced Pakistan to cancel the South Asian federation (SAF) Games altogether after three postponements.
Pakistani delegates had told a meeting of South Asian Sports Federation (SASF) here on April 10 that the Government of Pakistan and Pakistan Olympic Association had decided to cancel the Games due to “the prevailing circumstances”.
However, the situation improved in the wake of an end to the Iraq war and what was called “a thaw in Indo-Pak” relations, making even the head of the state and head of the government to remark that 9th SAF Games too could again be held in this country.
Hence the decision by the Ministry of Sports to compile a summary and send the same to the PM Secretariat for approval.
The Chairman of 9th SAF Games Organising Committee, Lt. Gen. Syed Arif Hasan, had said sometime back that it was the government which has to take a decision on holding the Games and “we are there to organise the event”.
In the meanwhile, the SAF Games Secretariat here is making steady, progress towards closing down with procurement and engineering branches becoming the latest sections to cease functioning on Thursday.
The head of the procurement branch was seen shaking hands with and bidding adieus to the Secretariat staffers.
Of the nine SAF Secretariat branches, some like security, protocol etc. had already closed over the past few weeks while a couple of them like finance, technical etc. are likely to be the last to shut their doors by the end of this month.
In case the summary is approved, POA and the Ministry of Sports can join forces for winning back the rights to host the 9th SAF Games in the Pakistan capital.
But since the Games have formally been shifted to Sri Lanka, that country will have major say in convening the SASF meeting which is the proper forum in the first place to decide whether to keep the 9th edition of the Games in Sri Lanka or shift it back to Pakistan.
Sri Lanka had insisted in the April 10 meeting that it couldn’t hold the event before 2005 since their government has to approve budget and make other arrangements also.
As such, the Sri Lankans had also insisted that Pakistan should retain the right to hold the 9th edition, irrespective of the dates.
The sports circles here opined that Pakistan should make an earnest effort to again hold the event if for nothing else then for the sheer image-building of the country since sports had become an effective tool in this behalf in the modern age.
But they also expressed apprehension that India could hijack the event. “There is only half a quorum required for holding a meeting of SASF which has eight members”, said a Games official.—APP
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