ISLAMABAD, June 28: Each time a major sporting event comes up, a large number of officials begin flexing their wings to be on the plane going out of Pakistan.

Behind the scene manoeuvrings, leg-pulling and desperate last minute attempts to make the party have now become a routine matter. It therefore comes as no surprise the way things have unfolded ahead of next month’s Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

A squad of 75, loaded with officials, looks set to be approved by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf any day now which will mark yet another victory for the infamous joyride mafia that has eaten up Pakistan sports with nothing to show as far as performance of athletes is concerned.

An all expenses paid trip to Manchester is indeed mouthwatering for our officials, some of who went to great lengths to have their name included on the list. It is an open secret now that the Pakistan Sports Board and the Pakistan Olympic Association, do not get along well, of late because of the sports policy.

But such is the temptation of a foreign trip that both organisations are hand in glove to have their near and dear ones named on the contingent and, with years of experience behind them, they do it with clinical precision.

A good example is that of Brig. Khalid Sajjad Khokhar, of the Army Sports Directorate.

He was initially appointed as the deputy chef de mission of the squad and rightly so because Army provides a major chunk of our athletes and is also the winner of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy.

However, on the Pakistan sporting scene, no one can be sure, as the brigadier may well have learnt. The PSB moved slowly but surely, and dropped him although his accreditation papers had already been sent to the Games organisers.

The PSB then attempted to have their own man inducted - Dr. Waheed Mughal in place of Brig. Khokhar.

But in what has been an uncertain situation, a serving Air Marshal, Syed Qaiser Hussain, who is also the senior vice president of the Pakistan Squash Federation, has stepped in to take the deputy chef de mission’s slot.

Qaiser and Brig Saulat Abbas, the director general of the PSB, are said to be good friends, so perhaps Waheed was asked to sacrifice his place for a dear pal! He has instead been appointed the treasurer. Not a bad deal though as long as you are going!

The Pakistan party for the July 25 to August 4 Games is to be headed by Lt. Gen (Retd) Zulfiqar Ali Khan.

On paper we have as many as 21 officials in a squad of 75 athletes (including the hockey squad) going for the Games. The PSB and POA officials might not agree but this is a big number and if past events are any yardstick we could see more joyriders streaming into Manchester on the pretext of attending meetings of international federations.

One wonders if our own National Games were to be held in Faisalabad, dubbed Pakistan’s Manchester, how many of these officials would be keen to go.