LAHORE: Renowned former cricketers, hockey Olympians and legendary squash players called on President Mamnoon Hussain at Aiwan-i-Sadar on Tuesday and presented their suggestions for the promotion of sports in the country.

Olympian Manzoor Junior told Dawn that legendary cricketers like Majid Khan, Mushtaq Mohammad, Sadiq Mohammad, Javed Miandad and Iqbal Qasim, hockey Olympians namely Islahuddin Siddiqi, Shahnaz Sheikh, Manzoor Senior and he himself along with squash greats Jehangir Khan and Qamar Zaman met the president.

Manzoor said the players suggested the president to revive the national sports policy while making grounds at school and college levels to promote sports culture in the country.

“The president showed a lot of interest for the revival of sports in the country,” Manzoor said. “The president has good knowledge about the past history of the sports in the country and is a sports lover like Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.”

Manzoor said that all the players were at the consensus that only high-profile technocrats should be preferred for appointments in any sports institution.

“I hope president considers all the suggestions of the sportsmen with sincerity and the government comes out with a comprehensive plan to implement a new sports policy, which would lift the country’s sports to a higher level,” Manzoor added.

Published in Dawn, April 1st, 2015

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