ISLAMABAD: The Athletics Federation of Pakistan (AFP) on Monday shifted the 44th National Athletics Championship from Karachi to Islamabad over security and technical reasons.

The athletics championship was slated to be held in Karachi from May 17 to 19 at the National Sports Training and Coaching Centre.

“We have postponed the event mainly because of poor condition of the athletics track at the Karachi centre while security was also one of the reasons which led to the change of venue,” president of the AFP Maj Gen (r) Akram Sahi told Dawn.

Gen Sahi after attending the meeting of the general council, which was attended by all the registered members of the council, added: “The championship will now be held on same dates but in Islamabad at the Jinnah Stadium.

“To address the concerns of the Sindh Athletics Association, we have allocated them next year’s national championship which will be held in Karachi,” said Gen Sahi.

Asked that security situation should not have any effect on such national events because of tight security often provided by the Rangers or Army, he insisted: “The matter is decided after consensus by the general council of the AFP because security was indeed a concern for our council.”

He added that the general council has elected Mohammad Zafar as the new secretary of the federation.

The AFP president also said that Liaquat Ali and Rabia Mushtaq will represent Pakistan at the London Olympics. Both were given wild-card entries by the London Olympics committee.

When asked two general-council members of the committee Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were missing from the meeting, he said:

“They must have some domestic concerns.”

For the promotion of athletics at the grass-roots level, Gen Sahi said: “AJK, Gilgit-Baltistan, Fata and Fana were also given playing rights besides they were given the membership in the general council of the AFP.”

Asked to comment over the financial position of the AFP, he said: “The government has not given any major grant to the federation during the last eight years.”