Is Pakistan inching closer to IOC ban?

KARACHI: Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) is closely monitoring the situation and if any concrete action is taken by the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) about what it decided in its Executive Board meeting in Islamabad on Tuesday then the Olympic body will seek support from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

‘The News’ has consulted several top POA officials regarding the issue and it seems that national sports is heading towards a major disaster as there are fears that the IOC could ban Pakistan just the way it banned India over similar issues.

The recent development in the sports circle of Pakistan has also been declared as dangerous by a top official of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) during telephonic talks with one of the top officials of a sports federation in Pakistan on Wednesday.

“The IOA official has told me today that the government’s interference in POA affairs and its affiliated federations will certainly invite an IOC ban as the world’s governing sports body cannot tolerate any such thing,” a top official of a federation in Pakistan told this correspondent while quoting an IOA official.

A source even claimed that POA has written a letter to the IOC on Wednesday, requesting it that Pakistan should be banned as the government is interfering in its affairs. But a top POA official denied it, saying, no such letter has been written as yet.

‘The News’ has learnt that the POA is not yet clear about the real task of the ad-hoc committee constituted by the Board except its solid stance regarding the National Games.

A top official of the POA told ‘The News’ that Lahore High Court (LHC) has already given its verdict that the elections of the POA should be conducted again except for its president. It means that the POA chief is still the head of the POA and a bridge between IOC and Pakistan and IOC will only listen to him and no one else.

Moreover, POA is preparing to drag the PSB in the contempt of court case as according to it the Board was stopped by the Lahore High Court from holding any such meeting following the petition filed by the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) in September last year.

Following the petition filed by PFF the Board had to postpone its meeting which it had convened on October 1, 2012. A couple of days ago the POA also served the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination with another legal notice and warned that if it held the meeting it would be a contempt of court. The case in the LHC is still pending.

Sources very close to the development are of the view that the IPC should have waited for the decision of the LHC. It seems, they said, the IPC wants to dispose of the matter as quickly as possible as the government is also completing its five-year tenure in the near future. But sources said that the IPC is trying to create problems for PSB’s Director General Amir Hamza Gillani as after the new government will come into power, it will be Gillani who will be held accountable for the whole drama.

Sources said that the Ministry of the IPC is playing an illegal role in the whole episode as the ministry had been created in order to coordinate in the smooth devolution of the 18 ministries and not for interfering in the affairs of a sports body which is only accountable to the IOC. Even the country’s prime minister and president cannot interfere in its affairs. POA officials are of the view that as per IOC advice the real conflict on the tenure-restriction clause can be resolved with consensus as per IOC advice. The IOC had raised objections over two controversial clauses of Pakistan’s national sports policy and had advised the PSB to review it and make amendments so that the fundamental rights of the sports federations could be safeguarded. At the same time Pakistan was also advised to resolve the tenure-restriction clause with consensus.

POA also said that the sports policy was framed before devolution and after devolution it has lost its status and now a fresh sports policy will have to be made and the ministers of the federating units could play a leading role in its formation.

In its Executive Board meeting on Tuesday, PSB formed a seven-member ad-hoc committee which has been given the task of holding fresh POA elections, re-organising of the National Games and running the day-to-day business of sports till a proper set-up is ready to take over.

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