Though partially, finally the elections of the Lahore Regional Cricket Association (LRCA) had been held last week after a lengthy process of litigation. Khawaja Nadeem has been elected as president for three years (2014-17) for the second term and Mobeen Ahmad as treasurer.

The elections for the secretary could not be held because all candidates had withdrawn their nomination papers just before the polls being conducted by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) at its Qadhafi Stadium offices.

The main hurdle was the PCB rules under which the president and the secretary could not be from the same zone. Since Khawaja Nadeem belongs to the West Zone, his nominated candidate for the secretary slot, Shoaib Dar, was also from the same zone, and thus, was not eligible to contest for the said post.

Now for the election of the secretary, the PCB will again hold elections in the West Zone because it has de-notified the early elections of its president, Rai Zulfiqar. The PCB will hold fresh elections in the West Zone on Sept 25 under its new elections’ rules which are being implemented for the first time.

Thereafter the elections of the secretary will be held under the new rules in which only the president and the secretary of all three zones of the LRCA will cast their votes.

Under the previous rules almost 34 representatives of all three zones had to cast their votes. It is not possible to convene any general or executive council of the region till the elections of the LRCA secretary.

The two Lahore Lions (LL) teams in the disciplines of kabbadi and cricket have been in the news because of their participation in international events. Currently, the LL kabbadi team is in India to compete in the world’s richest World Kabbadi League.

The league carries a total cash prize of Indian Rs30.5 million, such a big amount has never been offered to this popular sport both in Indian and Pakistani Punjabs.

Indian Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal is the main inspiring force behind the crash-rich league. The matches are to be held in England, India, the US, Canada and Pakistan in a four month-long period.

In the first leg, the matches were held in England while the second phase is in progress in India. The third phase will be held in the US, fourth in Canada, fifth in Pakistan and the final phase in India in December.

Hopefully, the league will attract fans and players in England, the US and Canada. Currently, mostly Indo-Pak migrated people are representing these countries in kabbadi.

The LL is so far unbeatable, winning all three matches, two in England and one in India.

Meanwhile, the Lahore Lions cricket team is also leaving for Raipur, India, on Sept 9 to feature in the World Champions League. It has to compete in the qualifying round in Raipur. The main round will start from Sept 17.

Former Pakistan T20 captain Muhammad Hafeez will lead the team while Umar Akmal, Wahab Riaz, Aizaz Cheema and Nasir Jamshed will be its important members.

The PCB is still waiting a green single from the federal interior ministry for a visit to India. Due to strained political relations between the two neighbouring countries, the players, intellectuals, journalists and traders of both sides are facing problems in getting visas.

Balochistan United stunned the more professional side of Wapda to win a final of the 10th National Women Football Championships in Lahore with a big margin of 7-0.

No-one was expecting the defeat of Wapda and, that too, by such a big margin. The winners were honoured with a cash prize of Rs500,000 while the runners-up received Rs200,000.

Army’s Maheesha Dawood was declared the best footballer and pocketed Rs100,000 cash prize. Army earned the ‘Fair Play Trophy’ with Rs100,000 cash prize.

Published in Dawn, August 31th, 2014