March 10, 2007	Saturday	Safar 20, 1428

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KARACHI, March 9: The 30-day countdown for the 30th National Games commenced on Friday with the preparation camps for Sindh athletes nowhere in sight.

The biennial spectacle, which was postponed earlier, now runs in the metropolis from April 9 to 14.

The provincial associations who are waiting for financial assistance for the last several months to start training camps have failed to get a penny despite promises made to them time and again.

The Sindh Olympic Association (SOA) had promised to release Rs 30,000 to member associations soon after they received first instalment out of Rs20million from the Pakistan Sports Trust (PST) but to no avail.

Later, the Sindh Sports Minister, Qamar Mansoor, and the SOA agreed and opened one account for the games.

Though things seem to be progressing on other fronts but as usual the province is lagging far behind in holding camps and to build up an atmosphere in the sprawling city.

“How we can start training camp as we have not yet received any kind of financial support either from the SOA, SSB or sports minister,” said a dejected secretary of a provincial sports body on condition of anonymity.

Couple of city stadia also needed facelift for staging the events which too, has not commenced.

It is pertinent to mention that Sindh could only muster 31 medals – 4gold, 9silver and 18bronze – in the last Quetta games to finish overall sixth among 11 participating units.

However, if the situation remains same for next few days there are chances that they might slip on the medals table.