28 March 2004	Sunday	06 Safar 1425

ISLAMABAD, March 27: The 9th SAF Games beginning in Islamabad from March 29 have created quite a hype in the capital. Pakistan has been waiting since 2001 to host the games for promotion of a peaceful co-existence and harmony in the region. But war alarms are far more persuasive than any message of peace, and each time after building up the climax, the games were postponed.

Last year, the announcement for the annulment of the SAF Games came on the day the first full-dress rehearsal for the opening ceremony was to be held. The official mascot had been erected at the sports stadium and the SAF music CD had already been released.

The 9th SAF Games logo depicts a pair of birds flying together towards new horizons to symbolize unity among the Saarc nations and their rising above differences in defiance of frontiers to show sportsman spirit in moments of triumph and defeat.

The interest generated in sports is unprecedented in Pakistan which has traditionally been a dual sport nation thanks to the novel promotional ideas like the SAF bus-train which toured the country selling souvenirs.

"The SAF Games will act as a springboard for intercontinental games, because we finally have the chance to show off our potential," said Advisor SAF Games Media Cell Yahya Ghaznavi. "Sports are a great way to put the country on the world map and win laurels for the nation."

SAF Games promise to be the biggest event in Pakistan sports history in terms of variety of competitions, elaborate arrangements and the number of expected delegates from the world over which is said to exceed 2,000.

Pakistan hosted the 4th SAF Games in 1989 and this is the second time after 15 years that the country is playing host to sportsmen from the neighbouring countries including Afghanistan, a non-SAARC member.

The SAF Games Organizing Committee had been awarded seed money of Rs150 million. Recognizing the fact that the sum was insufficient to finance the scale and grandeur of their activities, they ventured into sports marketing.

The Hero Card scheme has to date yielded close to a billion rupees. Over Rs50 million have been diverted to sports federations. A nucleus of serving and retired army officers has been formed to head the SAF Secretariat.

This is the first time in Pakistan that an Olympic Games- style result management system has been designed. Hooked to a central server in the IT nerve centre, computers installed at all sports venues will upgrade results and distribute them to the main press centre in Islamabad and three venue press centres.

A special website has been created incorporating Real Time Updating to flash the latest scores the moment they are finalized. Video clips and static photographs of sports events will also be accessible on the SAG Games website.

The finest details for the arrangement of the games have been executed with precision. Photographers with shorter range zoom lenses are to be seated in the front, whereas their colleagues with long range tele lenses have been assigned to the back rows, just like the placement of recoil rifles and M-16s in an actual defence scenario.