July 25, 2003	Friday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 24, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, July 24: Brig. Saulat Abbas on Thursday welcomed Pakistan Olympic Association’s (POA) decision of providing financial grants to over 10 national federations and termed it a historic step.

“I am happy that for the first time in our 56 years of existence, the POA has started coughing out money and I hope that they would now also start organising international events at home,” said Saulat, the Director General of Pakistan Sports Board (PSB).

The PSB in June froze the grants of as many as 15 national federations for not abiding by the sports policy. Some of these bodies, including volleyball and the weightlifting federations, however subsequently agreed to follow the government orders.

But the POA, in a continuing row with the PSB, on Wednesday announced it would be supporting the “affected” federations, initially for one year.

“I am happy they have made such a decision and that the sports policy is helping them to grow,” Saulat said while suggesting that they should also give grants to result-producing federations.

“We want the POA to become financially strong and they would do well to raise funds on their own and give grants and awards to the federations and athletes so that the government could concentrate on building infrastructure.”

He called on the POA officials to take a leaf out of Lt. Gen. Arif Hasan’s book of fund-raising. “If Arif could raise big money for the SAF Games, why cannot the POA do so.”

Gen Arif, the chairman of the SAF Games Organising Committee, through his innovative ideas, was able to generate huge sums of money and his Hero Card Scheme was an instant hit.

Saulat also spoke about the stay granted to POA this week by the Rawalpindi Bench of the Lahore High Court against the sports policy.

“The stay is to the petitioner (POA chief Wajid Ali Shah) and does not tell us to resume grants,” he said and claimed that the PSB would definitely go to a higher forum. “The government is serious in implementing the sports policy in letter and spirit and it will be implemented,” he declared.

The POA had objected basically to the clause in the sports policy that bars the top officials of the national federations from holding office for more than two terms of four years each. “We had no intention of forcibly removing the officials any way,” Saulat said.

Saulat, granted extension for one year last week by the Prime Minister, further slammed the POA for claiming that the PSB was over-staffed.

The POA, he said had objected to this in the 62nd executive committee meeting of the PSB. “Subsequently a committee, which had two POA representatives as members, was formed to look into the matter. That committee submitted a report which said the PSB’s strength was less. That report has been approved and therefore it is not a gentleman’s way of objecting to it now.”