ISLAMABAD: President of the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) retired Lt Gen Syed Arif Hasan on Thursday told Federal Minister for Inter-provincial Coordination (IPC) Dr Fehmida Mirza that the National Games will be held in Peshawar tentatively in October this year.

The POA president and general secretary Khalid Mahmood called on the IPC minister at her office to discuss Pakistan’s preparations for the National Games, participation in the South Asian Games and other policy matters concerning sports. IPC secretary Akbar Durrani and PSB director general Arif Ibrahim were also present on the occasion.

Lt Gen Arif during the meeting briefed Dr Fehmida about the POA role for promoting sports in the country, and also about the steps being taken by the Association for lifting the performance of athletes and coaches.

The POA chief said that the National Games would be held in Peshawar October this year, tentatively.

“The National Games will provide a platform for the final selection of players for the 2020 South Asian Games, which will be staged in Pakistan,” Lt Gen Arif added.

Dr Fehmida assured provision of full technical support from the PSB for the games.

Meanwhile, it was decided during the meeting that the camps for this year’s South Asian Games will be set up after Ramazan and the PSB in this regard will assist national sports federations.

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2019