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ISLAMABAD The Sports Ministry and the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) have showed serious reservations over a draft of the 'model constitution' prepared by the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) for the federations running the affairs of national sports.
The reservations were raised by Sports Ministry official during a meeting with POA officials at the Pakistan Sports Complex here on Wednesday.
'The model constitution carried some flaws mostly in taking the games to the grass-roots level and it's more about representation of district associations and clubs in national federations,' an official who was present in the meeting told Dawn.
The official pointed out 'The Ministry of Sports will submit a written document regarding loopholes in the model constitution draft to the POA and a meeting will be held on the subject very soon.'
Federal Sports Secretary Ashraf Khan has recently hinted about a 'model constitution' for the national sports federations and bigger reforms in the games with an aim to reach the podium at the 2012 London Olympics and beyond.
Pakistan miserably failed at the Beijing Olympics and other mega events and remained medal-less even in the Asian region for more than a decade despite consistent injection of financial support from the government to 42 national sports federations.
To arrest the current declining level of the sports, the government issued an SRO (Statutory Regulation Order) giving the much-needed powers to the PSB to amend and repeal the constitution of the national sports federations.
'The SRO will stay and it will be used after consulting the POA, however, after implementation of the 'model constitution'.'
'We are not into any mud slinging against any sports federation, association or individual, instead, both POA and PSB will work for the betterment of the games in the country,' he said.
Meanwhile, a four-member committee comprising the officials from the PSB and POA will vet the 'model constitution'.
Speaking with the media, Federal Sports Minister Pir Aftab Shah Jilani said 'Sports in the country is facing problems basically at the grass-roots level. There is absolutely no accountability at the district and club level. Someone has to look into the affairs of the national sports and we will engineer out a policy in consultation with the POA.'
Syed Arif Hasan, the president of the POA, said that they were satisfied with the outcome of the meeting. 'Both the ministry and the POA agreed to remove the differences over the SRO. All the issues will be settled through negotiations and a consensus based model constitution will be formed. The national sports police will also be reviewed,' he concluded.
