November 30, 2006	Thursday	Ziqa'ad 8, 1427

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KARACHI, Nov 29: “The government has increased the annual sports budget to 500 million from the previous mark of just 70 million rupees and almost half of that sum would be spent on development projects.” This was disclosed by Lt. Gen (retd) Syed Arif Hasan, Chairman Pakistan Sports Trust (PST) at an impressive ceremony here on Wednesday.

‘The Federations have been given specific targets in an effort to bring a change in the system aimed at taking country’s sports to new heights,” said Arif.

He said a one-to-one meeting with officials of national sports federations has been planned for January to evaluate their recent track record besides viewing their audited accounts.

The retired general said PST has a working mechanism under which it ask federations to submit short and long term plans which only gets approval from the high powered Board of Governors after thorough evaluation.

Outlining salient features of ‘Hero Pakistani’ raffle, he said it’s a revenue generating scheme launched specifically for sports promotion as some national sports bodies were getting a meagre amount of Rs10,000 to Rs15,000 annually.

Making comparison of medals table of last three editions of South Asian Games with the help of slides, Arif said he was proud that the efforts have so far yielded fruitful results.

‘At the 8th Katmandu Games Pakistan’s medals tally was 10-36-30 which rose to 38-55-50 in the 9th held at Islamabad and 41-43-72 in the last edition at Colombo,’ he remarked.

Arif added that a 201-member contingent sans bodybuilding will be featuring in different disciplines at the Asiad. ‘The athletes have trained hard under the guidance of foreign coaches and we are keeping our fingers crossed,’ he said. He termed the idea to have one sponsor for one game ideal for at least two to three-year duration.

When asked whether he plans to bid for Asian Games in future, Arif said: “Efforts are underway to create infrastructure as hosting of games of such a magnitude requires a strong base.”

The PST chief disclosed he was laying emphasis on training of coaches, technical officials, sports administrators, for sending the sports administrators abroad on scholarships under the contract that they will work for PSB upon return.

He said the government was trying to curb the foul practice of sending unauthorised persons abroad in the name of sports and the ministry has been asked to act strictly in issuing the NOCs.