25 December 2004	Saturday	12 Ziqa'ad 1425

KARACHI, Dec 24: Foreign coaches and trainers appointed on lucrative amounts to train Pakistani athletes, who have the same physical attributes like any other athlete in the world have failed to deliver , said chairman Scientific Subcommittees Dr Shahid Noor on Friday.

He told a press conference organized by Sports Medicine Association of Pakistan (SMAP) at a local hotel "Such failures are now attributed to the lack of understanding and utilization of sports science in training programs."

However, he felt that it was not possible without government support as almost all the sports development bodies were under government management. Dr Shahid expressed hope that Pakistan Olympics Association (POA) and Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) and all the other sports federations would join hands with SMAP in the pursuit of this cause.

Chairman SMAP Dr Wajahat Hussain said that the government officials did not know the importance of sports medicine in the elevation of sports and "we never have patronization from government for this purpose."

He informed that they would hold the first Asian Federation of Sports Medicine (AFSM) Physician Development Course from Dec 26 to 28 at Convention Centre, Liaquat National Hospital, which would be attended by about 150 participants. -PPI