January 23, 2008	Wednesday	Muharram 13, 1429

KARACHI, Jan 22: In a change of guard, orthopedic surgeon and noted sports organiser, Dr Mohammad Ali Shah, was on Tuesday unanimously installed as the president of the Sindh Olympic Association (SOA) in the quadrennial elections held under the supervision of Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) committee.

His candidature was unanimously backed by representatives of the 30 affiliated associations of the SOA. Besides, the other members were also elected unopposed.

Ahmed Ali Rajput was re-elected secretary for the second successive term.

In addition, there is a chairman, vice-chairman, three vice-presidents, treasurer, associate secretary and eight committee members.

Surprisingly, those responsible in finalising the panel failed to find a woman representative for the post of associate secretary in the whole province as it remained vacant.

Addressing the members, Dr Shah vowed to bring adequate funds and take the cash-starved SOA to new heights in the days to come.

“I’m a workaholic and will strive to give SOA a new lease on life by delivering the goods,” said Dr Shah, who entered the venue only after getting elected.

Dr Shah, who also heads the Karachi City Cricket Association, said he was happy to learn that the representatives of two parallel bodies — cycling and athletics — were allowed to sit in the meeting after their federations certified them.

“We are like a family and will work together in the interest of sports by resolving the differences, if any,” he remarked.

Citing examples of his association with cricket, he said it was his desire to see activities going on round the year.

He asked the officials of member sports bodies of the SOA to contact him whenever they needed his assistance.

Earlier, the elected members presented their introduction before the house.

The election process was supervised by a three-member POA committee headed by secretary POA Abdul Khaliq Khan. Other members were treasurer POA, Major (retd) Mohammad Afzal and president PTTF, S. M. Sibtain.

Office-bearers:

Dr Mohammad Ali Shah (president); Abdul Malik Khan (chairman); Abdul Razzak Arain, Mrs. Veena Masud and Cdre (retd) Tajuddin Najmi (vice presidents); Syed Zulfiqar Ali Shah (vice-chairman); Ahmed Ali Rajput (secretary); Syed Waseem Hashmi (treasurer) and Mohammad Saleem Paracha (associate secretary).

The eight-member committee consists of Shoaib Ahmed Usmani, Saleem Ahmed Shaikh, Mohammad Akram Khan, Arif Faheem, Engr. Syed Mahfoozul Haq, I. A. Khan, Mudassir Razak Arain and Mohammad Salim.

The post of associate secretary (woman) remained vacant.