LAHORE: The Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) will not prevent the country’s Olympic association from conducting its upcoming polls despite having raised concerns over its electoral college, PSB director general Yasir Peerzada said on Friday.

A day earlier, the PSB had announced that it had written a letter to the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), seeking the removal of anomalies in the process of the Dec 30 POA elections.

“The POA has to respond to the questions that the PSB has raised over its electoral college that has been announced for the elections,” Yasir said during a meeting with the members of the Sports Journalists Association of Lahore.

Yasir said the POA didn’t have its constitution published on its website until recently the PSB raised objections over it.

The PSB chief defended the body’s decision to oversee elections of the national sports federations, claiming that the move shouldn’t be termed as interference in their affairs.

“I have asked the national sports federations if they felt that the PSB had interfered in their affairs and none of them raised any such concerns,” said Yasir.

The DG PSB shrugged off the notion that the body had been at loggerheads with the POA and the national sports federations — especially through the introduction of the 2005 National Sports Policy — and that it was why the country had been left behind in sports.

The PSB recently amended its constitution to establish an Election Commission responsible for overseeing elections within national sports federations and addressing any objections to candidate nominations. However, Yasir was adamant that the PSB’s role would remain non-interfering.

“We are not intruding in the federations’ internal matters; our aim is to ensure transparency in the election process. To that end, the PSB has introduced a code of conduct for federations,” Yasir explained.

He also highlighted the varying levels of compliance among federations with regard to reporting their financial expenditures.

“Some federations have submitted their expenditure details from government grants, while others have not. We plan to make this information public on our website soon,” he confirmed.

Yasir stressed that the office-bearers of federations must first seek private funding before requesting government assistance.

Addressing the issue of sports infrastructure in the country, Yasir refuted the widespread perception that Pakistan lacked adequate sports facilities.

“There are hundreds of sports stadiums, even at the tehsil level,” he stated. “The real challenge is not the infrastructure, but the lack of substantial talent emerging from these facilities.”

The DG also reaffirmed the government’s commitment to the Lausanne Agreement signed with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2015. “We fully respect the agreement, and the POA must adhere to it as well,” Yasir said.

The longstanding conflict between the PSB and the POA, which nearly led to Pakistan’s suspension from the IOC between 2012 and 2015, was also mentioned. Following these tensions, the government stepped back in 2015, recognising the POA as an independent body operating under the IOC charter. However, the PSB has once again found itself in conflict with national sports federations, prompting warnings from the IOC to avoid further escalation.

On the topic of team selection, Yasir emphasised that federations must adopt a merit-based approach when selecting athletes for international competitions. He also clarified that federations affiliated with the PSB must obtain a No Objection Certificate (NOC) before sending teams abroad. Federations not affiliated with the PSB, he said, would not be permitted to use Pakistan’s name in international competitions without clearance.

Published in Dawn, December 21st, 2024