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| July 20, 2003 | Sunday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 19, 1424 |
POA, PSB blamed for poor standards
Our Sports Reporter
RAWALPINDI, July 19: Prof. Anwar Chowdhry, a known critic of the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) and the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB), on Saturday took a fresh swipe at the two organisations while calling for accountability in sports.
“Unless a system of accountability is introduced, sports in this country will never flourish,” the professor, who heads the International Boxing Federation (IBF) told a news conference on the sidelines of the Brig Rodham National Junior Boxing Championship.
“I have told the PSB a number of times that there should be some kind of accountability but nobody seems bothered,” he said who is also the president of the Pakistan Amateur Boxing Federation (PABF). “Such is the state of our sports today that I cannot think of Pakistan winning medals in any sport at next year’s Olympic Games, except for hockey and boxing.”
But the officials in the POA would surely send athletes in a number of disciplines claiming every time that this is done to provide exposure to the players.
“Now an elite event as the Olympics is not for gaining exposure, it is a stage for giving performance.” Chowdhry said that he knew the POA officials well, as he himself has been a member of their executive committee for decades.
“Our Olympic standards are the lowest ever today,” he lamented. He pointed out that it was a “matter of shame” that prior to last year’s Commonwealth Games in Manchester, the powers that be cut the strength of their boxing squad from five to three and one of our boxers still won a gold.”
Sport in Pakistan also suffered because these were separated from education. “This was the biggest drawback.”
Chowdhry, under whom Pakistan boxing has flourished also urged the authorities to reward boxer Nauman Karim of Army, who won the country’s first-ever World Championship bronze medal in Thailand earlier in the month.
“The PABF looks forward to a suitable reward for him because this would encourage not just Nauman but other boxers too. Normally a boxer who does well in a World Championship has a fairly good chance of making Olympic grades,” he said of Nauman who sat proudly next to the professor. “Nauman has given us hope and should do well at the Olympics, although he will have to qualify.”
Pakistan are to stage the third Olympic qualifying round in April next year, an event Chowdhry said he had committed to hold when the PABF’s yearly grant was just Rs two lakh.
“The expenditure on holding this competition would be Rs 5.5 million.” But the PABF, its grant now having been enhanced to Rs 10 million would spend that money on the training and tours of the boxers.
“We are planning to send eight or nine boys to the Commonwealth Championship in Kuala Lumpur next month, an event that is next in importance to the World Championship.”
Plans are also afoot to dispatch some Pakistani boxers to Russia and Azerbaijan for training while others would train at home.
“If all goes well, I think six of our boys should qualify for the Olympics.” Chowdhry also expressed his desire to build a state of the art stadium in Karachi with a roof that could be opened and shut in minutes. “This would be the best in Asia and for this I am willing to spend Rs 10 million from my own pocket.”
“Although I am not a millionaire, I wonder if I can dish out Rs 10 million why cannot the other sports officials manning the national federations do so to build infrastructure.”
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