LAHORE, July 4: The Wapda Sports Control Board has announced its new policy which will greatly benefit thousands of sportspersons employed with the organisation.

As per the new policy, the players will have the option either to work on regular basis under the existing system or earn lucrative contracts for certain periods. It has also increased the cash incentives to five times for the athletes for winning gold, silver and bronze medals at the national and international level.

Chairman Wapda Zafar Mahmood, who is also a member of the Board of Governors of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), spoke to Dawn on Monday and said that under the new policy if a sportsperson working in Wapda in BPS-5 scale is eligible to sign a three-year contract to get Rs35,000 per month.

Similarly, having BPS-7 scale, an athlete can get a contract of Rs45,000. Moreover, a player working in BPS-9 can earn a contract for a Rs60,000 and an international athlete working in BPS-16 can go for a contract of Rs 75,000.

The above packages are for the disciplines of athletics, badminton, baseball, basketball, bodybuilding, chess, golf, gymnastics, handball, judo, ju-jitsu, kabaddi (Asian and Circle), karate, netball, powerlifting, rowing, table tennis, taekwondo, volleyball, weightlifting, tug of war and wrestling.

The players of football and hockey working in BPS-5,7,9,14 to 16 can get contracts for a monthly package of Rs35,000, Rs55,000, Rs70,000, Rs80,000 and Rs100,000 respectively.

Also, the cricketers working in BPS-5, 7,9,14,16,17 scales will get monthly contracts for Rs35,000, 45,000, 70,000, 100,000 and Rs150,000, respectively.

Separate packages under the contract system for boxers, rifle shooters, cyclists, squash players, swimmers, tennis and wushu players were also announced. A boxer who earns a medal at international level can earn Rs. 100,000 per month while a boxer who wins a gold medal at the national level will earn a contract for Rs 60,000.

The Wapda chairman further said his department has also decided to increase the cash incentives for earning gold, silver, bronze medals.

Zafar said that while currently a gold, silver and bronze medalist earns Rs5,000, Rs3,000 and Rs2,000 respectively in individual sports, they will be honoured with the cash prizes Rs25,000, Rs15,000 and Rs10,000 from now on which is a five-time increase.

The gold medalists will also continue to get one-step promotion in addition as per the existing policy for their achievement, while silver and bronze medalists will get some annual increment as per existing policy.

“A cricketer now will get Rs15,000 instead of Rs3,000 for hitting a century for Wapda and Rs5,000 for cracking half-century. A bowler will get Rs15,000 for taking five or more wickets in an inning and Rs10,000 will be awarded for taking five catches. Man-of-the-Match will get Rs5,000 each instead of Rs1,000,” he said.

This enhancement in cash awards will be applicable to all competitions which will be held after July 1, 2016.

Published in Dawn, July 5th, 2016