ISLAMABAD: The country’s sports federations came to the rescue of hockey with the national game hit by acute shortage of funds and at risk of missing out participating in the 2016 Olympic qualifiers.

In an unprecedented move, federation representatives who met here on the invitation of the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) to discuss the inaugural

Quaid-i-Azam Inter-provincial Games, asked the government to slash their funds to help the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) meet the expenses of sending the team to play the qualifiers for the Games.

That move came after, according to sources, PHF chief Akhtar Rasool made an emotional speech during an in-camera meeting held here at the Liaquat Gymnasium of Sports Complex with IPC secretary Ejaz Chaudhry in the chair in which he stressed urgent funding was needed to send the Pakistan team for the qualifiers in Belgium from June 20 to July 5.

The squad is supposed to leave in the first week of June and Akhtar said that despite repeated promises made by the PSB and the Ministry of IPC to provide Rs35 million, not a single penny had been released so far.

To this, Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) secretary Aamir Nawaz proposed that funds to all sports federations be diverted to the PHF and the proposal was adopted by all federations in a befitting manner. “Hockey is our national game that’s why we offered to give up our funds,” Aamir told Dawn.

Pakistan Taekwondo Federation (PTF) president retired Col Waseem Ahmed told Dawn: “Although all federations are facing a shortage of funds, we are ready to help out hockey, because we have to back our national game.”

Sources, meanwhile, added that IPC secretary Ejaz assured the house that he would play his role for immediate release of funds to the PHF.

They added that during earlier discussions on the Inter-provincial Games, some federations including Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) president retired Gen Arif Hassan objected to holding the event.

The POA chief told the IPC secretary that PSB could not use the name of first Quaid-i-Azam Inter-provincial Games, as the POA has already allotted this name to Balochistan for holding the inter-provincial games.

To this, Ejaz told him that at this stage it would be difficult for PSB to change the title of the event.

Some federations also asked about the Rs100 million being used on the event which, according to budget documents, are allocated for holding the National Games.

However, Ejaz managed to convince federations and the POA chief that funds in question are not meant for holding the National Games but the IPC could spend it for holding any sports event and added that the PSB wanted to hold it under the supervision of sports federations. He constituted a 12-member organising committee, comprising federation members.

“Since, IPC and PSB decided to take us on board, as they constituted 12-member committee for organizing the event, we didn’t open the Pandora box about the status of the Games,” said a President of a leading federation on the condition of anonymity.

Published in Dawn, May 27th, 2015

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