The Kinnaird College, Lahore, has been awaiting a decision from the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Lahore, for nine months against a protest it had lodged against the cricket team of the Lahore College for Women University for playing in a tournament, allegedly, with non-eligible captain Waheeda Akhtar.

The protest was lodged by Kinnaird College team manager Sidra Butt raising an objection to the BISE’s decision of permitting Waheeda to play the final match of the Inter-Collegiate Cricket Championship-2014.

The Kinnaird College claims that Waheeda was not eligible to participate in the championship because she had passed her matric exam in 2012 and not in 2013 or 2014, and accordingly, not only the championship title from the Lahore College team should be withdrawn but also all other titles in which Waheeda represented the team.

It also demanded the imposition of a ban on the manager of the Lahore College.

Ms Sidra had also sought a copy of matriculation certificates of Najma Bibi and Sana Ijaz, the two other players of the Lahore College cricket team.

In a chat with Dawn, Kinnaird College sports director Noshin Haneef says she has also written a letter to the BISE chairman raising concern over delay in taking any decision as the next season is also around the corner.

Ms Noshin says when the Rule (2) states that incomplete entry forms will not be entertained then why the Lahore College team was allowed to play with an incomplete entry form.

She says the Rule (6) also states that all teams must bring original certificates (matric, Inter Part-I) of their members while the Lahore College team did not meet this condition.

The rule (8) says that only those students can take part in the championship who have passed their matric exams in 2013 or 2014, but Waheeda had cleared her exams in 2012, she claims.

Ms Noshin demanded a two-year ban on the Lahore College cricket team and the appointment of a lady as an in-charge of the women sports wing.

A spokesman for the BISE admitted that the decision could not be taken because of the non-cooperative attitude of Kinnaird College officials, the main complainant.

“We have repeatedly called Kinnaird College officials, both verbally and through fax messages, to attend a meeting, but they never turned up,’ he said.

“We will make another attempt to convene a meeting after getting a date of hearing from the BISE’s Sports Committee president on Monday,” the spokesman said.

“Due to an old rivalry between the two colleges, the BISE has already decided to always hold the cricket event on a neutral venue,” he said.

Last week various sports bodies organized different events to celebrate the 69th Independence Day in a befitting manner. The Sports Board Punjab (SBP) held the events of hockey, weightlifting, pentathlon and volleyball.

The Punjab Badminton Association also organized a one-day event at the New Khan Hall where five matches of doubles were held. A ju-jitsu event was held at the National Coaching Centre, and a hockey match was played between Tanveer Dar Hockey Academy and the army at the National Hockey Stadium.

A ceremony to hoist a national flag at the National Cricket Academy was also organized by the Pakistan Cricket Board. The Pakistan Hockey Federation and the Punjab Hockey Association failed to organize any event, probably because of shortage of funds. More events in this connection are scheduled to be held next week.

National women tennis champion Ushna Suhail from Lahore has earned a big honour as being the first Pakistani woman to compete in the professional circuit of the International Tennis Federation in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt.

Pairing with her Indian partner Rumshi, Ushna had entered the semifinal where their march was ended by an Australian duo. But playing in a professional event and, that too, its semifinal, she has earned a significant achievement as a Pakistani woman player.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2015

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