January 04, 2008	Friday	Zilhaj 24, 1428

KARACHI, Jan 3: The Sindh Olympic Association (SOA) suffered yet another blow when its parent body, the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA), on Thursday constituted a three-member committee to hold the quadrennial elections and set the house in order.

The committee comprises POA secretary, Khaliq Khan, POA treasurer Mohammad Afzal and president, Pakistan Table Tennis Federation (PTTF), S. M. Sibtain.

Sibtain, who is based in Karachi, will act as local coordinator. The date and venue to hold the elections will be announced in due course of time. It is presumed that the elections may take place after Ashura (10th Muharram).

Though the SOA’s term expired on July 12 last, the POA’s intervention came only after two warring groups became active to hold the polls. The POA has, for the first time, declared the SOA defunct in its official correspondence.

The confrontation between the president and the secretary of the defunct body was resurfaced after the latter, through a circular to members dated Dec 23, announced to convene the annual general body meeting to hold elections at a local hotel on Jan 9.

This was to be preceded by an adjourned special emergent general body meeting which was postponed.

As many as 20 affiliated members of the defunct SOA had requisitioned a meeting on March 27 allegedly to table a no-confidence move against the former president.

Taking serious note, the former president in a rejoinder dated Dec 31, had termed the convening of two meetings “unconstitutional”.

It sounds strange that the POA remained silent for more than three months despite the fact that Dawn in its issue of Sept 21 had pointed out that the SOA had become redundant with the expiry of tenure on July 12.

It was further pointed out that there’s no clause in SOA’s constitution about its status in the given circumstances — is the body active or did it cease to exist after completion of term.

Sindh’s image was already tarnished by the poor organisation of the 30th National Games last year.