LAHORE, Sept 6: Pakistan has sent tentative entries in eleven disciplines to the Organising Committee of the Olympics being held next year in August in Athens, Greece.

The events in which entries have been sent include athletics, swimming, boxing, badminton, hockey, table tennis, rowing, shooting, sailing, weightlifting and wrestling, said Muhammad Latif Butt, secretary, Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) on Saturday.

“These are the events in which we have some medal prospects but our participation in Olympics largely depend on our qualification in most of the disciplines,” he said.

As Pakistan has to strive hard to qualify in major disciplines, their participation in athletics and swimming is one hundred percent sure as the National Olympic Committee has been guaranteed through wild card entries, he said.

“Through the courtesy of International Olympic Committee (IOC) we be sending two athletes and swimmers, one male and female,” he said.

He said IOC has given a total six cards to Pakistan for special participation and rest of the two cards can be utilized in two other disciplines in which the country fails to qualify.

As per formulae laid down by the IOC regarding distribution of the wild cards only individual sports can be accommodated and it cannot benefit team event.

“As per the situation our hockey team must qualify for the Olympics by taking part in the pre-olympic tournament in April next year in Spain and there is no other way for the hockey team for making it to Olympics,” he said.

Pakistan hockey team has always appeared in all the Olympics hockey events after the independence of country in 1947.

Latif Butt said Pakistan has bright chances for its qualification in hockey, boxing, rowing, weightlifting and wrestling while in the other disciplines including table tennis, badminton, shooting and sailing the chances are bleak.

“After completion of the qualification process the remaining two cards will be awarded to those disciplines in which Pakistan was close to qualify,” he said.

Latif who is also the vice-president of Olympic Council of Asia, said the awarding of cards will be done by IOC through its special committee on the basis of participation of countries in a particular discipline.

He said the IOC has laid down a procedure to accommodate most deserving countries in order to ensure the participation of less developed and less privileged countries so that they could compete with those countries which are advanced and developed due to their superior ranking at international level.

POA secretary said it is the right time to start preparations, almost eleven months ahead of the Olympics,and urged the concerned national Federations to chalk out activity plan for the grooming and coaching of their athletes.—APP