SAHIWAL: After months of delay, work has begun at the Zafar Ali Stadium to address deficiencies in the newly-built nine-lane synthetic athletic track (SAT).

The international-standard track, built at a cost of Rs266 million, had been awaiting final inspection and formal hand-over for the past five months.

Project Management Unit (PMU) divisional focal person Mr Arsalan confirmed that the Punjab Sports Board (PSB) had raised five objections following a report published in Dawn, on the directives of the PSB director general. These issues included maintenance of the football ground, sewage and drainage water outflow, completion of servant quarters, incomplete watering system, inaccurate lane measurements and a missing electric transformer.

Moosa Qureshi, the Lahore-based contractor of the project, told Dawn that work had been started to “rectify” the highlighted deficiencies.

Punjab Sports Board has raised five objections; athletes demand provision of athletic equipment

PMU Deputy Secretary Mr Farhan confirmed that once the rectification work was completed, a team of experts would inspect the site to validate compliance and formally approve the project completion.

However, Wapda National Athletic Coach Fayyaz Mughal expressed concern over the fact that athletic track equipment had been removed from the revised PC-I of the project. He said that without the provision of essential equipment, SAT would be unusable for athletic events despite its high-quality infrastructure.

“Without athletic equipment, no player can use the track even for practice,” he added.

Mr Moosa also confirmed that the track equipment was not included in the Rs266 million contract of the project.

Dawn has reviewed the official documents detailing the cost breakdown in the approved PC-I. Notably, Rs55.5 million had been designated for the equipment in the original PC-1, but excluded from the revised PC-I. The PSB said the equipment would be arranged later under the “Missing Facilities” category. It also confirmed that the track would be handed over under the revised budgeted heads.

Meanwhile, national-level coaches and athletes have voiced their frustration over the continued delays in the completion of the project. The said that they were eager to begin training at the stadium, however, they said that the track would be useless without the necessary equipment.

They appealed to the district and divisional authorities as well as the PSB to expedite the handover process and the provision of necessary equipment.

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2025