ISLAMABAD: The lone hockey stadium in Rawalpindi has to wait for some time before it gets an Astro Turf.

According to sources, a Holland-based company GreenFields Sports Turf Systems came here this month to lay the turf at the stadium named after legendary Olympian Shahnaz Sheikh but went back without doing so.

GreenFields Sports Turf Systems had pointed out faults in the field on which the Astro Turf was to be laid which need to be rectified.

It may be mentioned here that the whole stadium project is worth Rs149 million and despite the authorities’ claims of laying the Astro Turf at the venue, the project has not materialised for the last three years.

When contacted, Rawalpindi’s District Sports Officer Abdul Waheed Babar admitted that GreenFields Sports Turf Systems team had returned without laying Astro Turf at the stadium due to faults in the field.

“The faults will be rectified this month and hopefully the turf will be laid in August,” Waheed said.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2017