LAHORE: President of Pakistan Federation Baseball and ex-director general Sports Board Punjab Khawar Shah passed away here on Tuesday after a brief illness. He was 68.

Khawar was hospitalised after he felt fever during the last month’s Inter-provincial Youth Games held in Islamabad.

Khawar introduced baseball in Pakistan way back in 1992 and worked diligently for the promotion of the sport till his death.

He organised a number of international baseball events in Pakistan namely the South Asia Cup and the first SAARC Cup, in Islamabad and Lahore.

Pakistan won almost all the baseball events held at home as the country attained 22nd ranking in the world and it stands at fifth in Asia out of 34 countries.

For the rapid progress of baseball in Pakistan, the Major League organisers of United States invited Pakistan in the World Cup qualifying round held in New York in 2016.

Besides Pakistan, world’s top teams namely Brazil, England, Israel also participated.

For his services for the baseball, the Asian body of the game appointed him as director of the West Asia region. Khawar’s last international achievement was hosting the Indo-Pak baseball series in the UAE last month.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Olympic Association president Lt. Gen. (rtd.) Arif Hasan, secretary Khalid Mahmood, Punjab Sports Board D.G Aamir Jan, Sports Journalists Association of Lahore, Pakistan Hockey Federation president Brig. Sajjad Khokhar, secretary Shahbaz Senior, ex-Olympians Akhtar Rasool and Naveed Alam, Punjab Olympic Association secretary Khawaja Idrees and secretary of Pakistan Basketball Federation Khalid Bashir condoled the sad demise.

Khawar left behind him a widow, three sons and four daughters.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2018