February 02, 2008	Saturday	Muharram 23, 1429

LAHORE, Feb 1: The re-election of Syed Shahid Ali Shah and Idris Haider Khawaja as the president and secretary of the Punjab Olympic Association on Thursday for a consecutive third term is a clear violation of the national sports policy.

A clause C-11 of the national sports policy, notified vide.SRO.No.1249 (1)/2005 Dtd 5-12-2005, restricts the office bearers of the national sports federations and associations from contesting a third term.

The caretaker federal sports minister Sikandar Jogezai has also raised concerns over the violation of the national sports policy, threatening to take action against the culprits.

In all, the representatives of 33 affiliated bodies attended the election meeting which became possible only after the withdrawal of the stay order petition against the elections by Secretary, Punjab Baseball Association (PBA) Khawar Shah on the directive of Shaukat Javed, the president of the National Baseball Federation.

Khawar, who is also the managing director of the Punjab Sports Board, sought a stay order against the Punjab Olympic Association for restricting him from contesting any post.

There are reports that the National Olympic Committee (NOC) President Syed Arif Hasan initially supported Khawar Shah and Aamir Hayat Rokhari as the POA secretary and president respectively since he felt threatened by Shahid Ali’s candidature for Feb 12 NOC polls.

But when Arif was assured by Shahid of having no such intentions, he quickly withdrew support to Khawar and Amir Rokhari while the stay order’s withdrawal also paved the way for his candidates.