PESHAWAR: President Athletic Federation of Pakistan (AFP) Major Gen. (retd) Muhammad Akram Sahi on Friday termed the establishment of Athletes Commission (AC) by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as a step taken in the right direction.
Talking to APP in an exclusive chat, General Sahi, who is also member of the World Value Commission of International Association of Athletic Federation (IAAF) and Executive Member of the Asian Athletic Association (AAA), said that the steering committee of twenty athlete representatives from around the world, assembled by the Athletes Commission (AC) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), on Friday released the initial components of an Athlete Charter to address and protect the fundamental rights and responsibilities of athletes around the world including Pakistan.
“It is a good step and certainly would endure and promote athletes across the world including Pakistan,” he said. “The Olympic Movement will address and protect fundamental rights of athletes around the world and will help the athletes to make their voice heard on the Athlete Charter,” he added.
The current draft of the Athlete Charter has been shaped by the input of almost 200 athlete representatives representing all continents across the globe including Pakistan. The initiative is another concrete step in the implementation of the IOC ACs strategy. It marks the next phase of the Athlete Charters development, whereby the Steering Committee is inviting elite-level athletes worldwide to share their voice and contribute to a second-phase survey that will continue to shape this important document.
This aims to become the worlds largest athlete-focused survey ever commissioned. Pakistan’s former international athlete Habib-ur-Rehman also termed it as a good initiative for the protection and development of athletes around the world including Pakistan. He said being member of the Asian Amateur Athletic Association, Maj General (Retd) Sethi is also working hard under the umbrella of (AAA) in Pakistan and hopefully the camps have already been announced for the forthcoming Asian Games.
Pakistan showed good achievements in Asian Indoor Athletic Championship held in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan where Pakistan won a gold medal in 4X400m relay besides one of the athlete Arshad qualified for the javelin throw final round in the recently concluded Gold Coast Commonwealth Games 2018 held in Australia.
Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2018
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