KARACHI: The Karachi Sports Foundation in collaboration with a nationwide renowned social services organisation Al-Mustafa Welfare Society, has arranged a free of charge Covid-19 test camp on Thursday (July 23) in Karachi for deserving athletes, coaches and ground staff.

In this regard, KSF President Syed Wasim Hashmi and Al-Mustafa Welfare Society President Dr. Abdul Rahim signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) under which players, coaches and ground staff will be provided free testing of coronavirus phase-wise while in future cooperation will also be provided in the fields of health and education.

Dr. Abdul Rahim said that Al-Mustafa Welfare Society is one of the most reputable social and welfare organizations in the country which is constantly working for the welfare of the poor and low-income sections of the society. Regardless of color, race or religion, the society is providing services in the areas of health, education, public awareness, emergency relief and social welfare and today, it included the sports sector also.

Abdul Raheem said the freezing of sports activities due to the lockdown directly affected people associated with sports sector and in this hour of trial the efforts of KSF are praiseworthy for distributing ration bags, face masks, hand sanitizers and other essential items among over 1700 deserving families. He said this is an excellent example of service to the people.

“Our organisation will continue its cooperation with KSF in other fields in future also”, he said.

KSF President Waseem Hashmi said that Al-Mustafa Welfare Society does not need any introduction regarding social services in the country. It is an honor for KSF to partner with such an organization.

He further said that financial assistance and arrangement of employment with the help of generous people and organizations for the sportsmen unemployed because of coronavirus lockdown, is also among the top priorities of KSF. Syed Waseem Hashmi said that the process of registration is being started before the camp. For registration players, coaches, organizers and ground staff have been asked to contact their respective associations and federations for registration.

The tests will be conducted according to the list obtained after registration.KSF Chairman Asif Azeem, Executive Committee members Tariq Ahmed and Faraz Ijaz and Ilyas Memon of Al-Mustafa Society, Moin Khan, Ahmad Raza Tayyab, Farhan Ashrafi, Idrees Abdul Ghaffar and Abdul Ghaffar Saeedi were also present on the occasion.

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2020