LAHORE: The Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) has instructed all six provincial sports boards to scrutinise their clubs at city level besides examining the associations at tehsil, district, divisional and provincial levels in order to ascertain the genuineness of national sports federations.

In a letter issued on Dec 25, 2024, the PSB, which has been at loggerheads with the national sports federations and the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) since the implementation of the National Sports Policy 2005, has taken yet another step to strengthen its tussle with the POA and the federations.

“I am directed to refer to the meeting held on Nov 20, 2024 under the chairmanship of secretary, Ministry of Inter-provincial [Coordination] which was attended by secretaries of provincial sports ministries and director generals/directors of provincial sports board/directorates,” the letter sent to the provincial sports boards stated.

“During the meeting, it was emphasised that sports clubs serve as the foundation of the national sports structure, from tehsil to provincial associations, which fall under the jurisdiction of provincial sports ministries, departments, boards and directorates,” it said.

“It was also decided during the 31st Board meeting of the Pakistan Sports Board held on Dec 4, 2024 to initiate the process of club scrutiny. To ensure legitimacy and transparency in recognising national sports federations (NSFs), it is essential to conduct thorough scrutiny of clubs and their respective associations at all levels,” it added.

The PSB has asked all the provincial sports boards to submit the required information by Jan 25.

It is a hard fact that several provincial associations are affiliated with the provincial sports board but they are not affiliated with their provincial Olympic associations.

Therefore, it is feared that a number of parallel bodies at the national federation level may emerge as a result of this scrutiny process.

The parallel bodies of different federations may also create a lot of problems for Pakistan in organising the South Asian Games 2025, as some federations may be affiliated with the PSB and the rest with the POA.

Published in Dawn, January 1st, 2025