LAHORE, May 21: The national sports federations will take a unanimous decision at the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) executive committee meeting, urging the Pakistan Sports Board to restore their annual grants which have been suspended for almost last two years.

The POA meets on Saturday. The grants of the federations were suspended by the PSB for not implementing the national sports policy. The discussion on the grant is an important point on the agenda of the meeting to be presided over by the newly elected POA president, Gen Arif Hasan.

In the past, the federations had been receiving meagre grants, therefore, they did not bother much when it stopped. But now the federations are showing their interest because the grants are expected to be raised to a considerable level as the federal government is likely to earmark Rs300 million for PSB in its fiscal year 2004-05.

It may be mentioned that last year's budget of the PSB was around Rs70 million only. The other points on the agenda are the contingent for the Athens Olympics, 2004, to be held in August, Islamic Solidarity Games, 2005, to be staged in Saudi Arabia and the 10th SAF Games which are being hosted by Sri Lanka in Colombo next year.