LAHORE: In a highly puzzling move indicating gross mismanagement and ill-planning, the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) at the eleventh hour has decided not to patronise financially the athletes of seven disciplines who are scheduled to represent the country in the forthcoming Asian Games.

Earlier, the PSB allowed 25 national federations to hold their training camps for the continent’s most prestigious sports extravaganza.

But in a highly surprising announcement made on Sunday the PSB decided that archery, baseball, football, gymnastics, rugby, table tennis and volleyball federations should themselves meet the expenses of their respective squads. A stunning and irritating step indeed with mere few days left before the squads leave for South Korea.

The Asian Games will be held in Incheon, South Korea from Sept 19 to Oct 4.

President of the Pakistan Federation Baseball (PFB) Shaukat Javed expressed his disappointment over the newly emerged situation.

“This situation is odd for us because we have no time to arrange the tickets for our 24-member squad [20 players and four officials] at our own. Buying tickets for such a big squad needs a significant amount; recently after we sent our U-18 team to the ongoing Asian Baseball Championship in Bangkok, we pinned our hopes on the PSB for financing the senior team for the Asiad as the PFB is facing shortage of funds,” Shaukat explained.

“Now our main hope to help us get out of this difficult situation is the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA). If our squad does not make Incheon to fulfil our commitment it will leave a very poor impression of our country there at the Games, also because the draws [for the baseball event] have also been taken out,” Shaukat stated.

“We have also been running the training camp for the Asian Games from our own resources for the last three months. Some two weeks ago the PSB confirmed to us that it would also bear the expenses of this training camp. We now fear no reimbursement will be made against it, too.”

Pakistan’s baseball team have the chance to qualify for the semi-finals in Incheon with lowly teams like 20th-ranked China and Mongolia along with world No.2 Japan being in their pool.

“We are 21st in world rankings, and if we manage to beat China then beating Mongolia is not going to be difficult for us as we expect to make the last-four stage,” he said.

It is learnt that the POA held a meeting in Lahore on Monday and it had ensured the PFB its all-out help in sending their squad to the Asian Games.

Meanwhile, the same gesture has also been given to the Pakistan Volleyball Federation by the POA which is striving to ensure maximum possible participation by the Pakistan contingent in Incheon. This will result in all the national federations fulfilling their commitments they made with their respective Asian chapters.

Meanwhile, secretary of the Pakistan Football Federation retired Lt Col Ahmad Yar Lodhi while acknowledging the receipt of PSB decision, vowed the PFF would send its team to Incheon at any cost.

Lodhi said though a late decision made by the PSB caused problems for the PFF, still it would ensure its team’s participation.

“As we have confirmed our participation to the Asian Games organisers, it is not easy to skip an international commitment. We will send the team using own resources,” he said.

PSB director general Akhtar Nawaz Ganjera, Lodhi added, had also ensured that the funds might be reimbursed to the PFF after resolving some matters.

Meanwhile, when contacted, Ganjera said now the PSB would sponsor a contingent featuring around 100 plus players and officials for the Incheon Games while remaining members of the contingent would have to bear their own expenses.

Ganjera said there were several reasons behind this move, adding one of them was violation of the National Sports Policy by the seven federations which didn’t follow the two-term policy of the government.

When conveyed that the PSB should have considered all this at the time when it allowed those federations to set up training camps for the Asian Games, Ganjera said a legal case in the Lahore High Court, under which many government and POA officials had received the contempt of court notices, was not received at the time of asking for the camps.

The hearing of the case in the LHC is set for Tuesday.

It may be mentioned that after almost a two-year tussle against POA led by retired Lt Gen Arif Hasan, the government finally recognised it when the IOC — after waiting for long — was about to suspend Pakistan’s membership in July this year.

Earlier, the government recognised the POA faction headed by retired Maj Gen Akram Sahi.

However, when the government recognised Arif-led POA body, Sahi moved an application in the LHC against the decision. The honourable court has issued a stay order against two letters of the PSB under which Arif’s body was recognised.

But as the PSB sent a contingent to the Commonwealth Games with the cooperation of Gen Arif’s body in August this year, Sahi has filed contempt of court petition against the government and POA officials.

Published in Dawn, September 9th , 2014