ISLAMABAD, Aug 17 (ABC): The National Assembly Standing Committee on Inter Provincial Coordination (IPC) wants free and fair elections of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) to be conducted so that the national game can prosper and regain its lost past glory.
The meeting which was held here under the chairmanship of Member National Assembly (MNA) Nawab Sher unanimously passed a resolution that the Prime Minister of Pakistan who was the Patron-in-Chief should appoint a Senior Technocrat to ensure transparency in the upcoming PHF elections so that Pakistan Hockey could advance in a prompt way. In the meeting, the committee members expressed concern over the below par performance of PHF as the World Ranking of Pakistan hockey was on the decline (6 to 18) due to lack of attention and mismanagement of previous PHF management.
The committee also recommended that a third party audit of PHF should be conducted to check the financial irregularities made by previous management so that culprits could be penalized, accordingly. In the meeting, the committee was also briefed by Ex-Olympians on how to bring the national game back on track. The committee also directed the Ex-Olympians to submit a summary on how to remove the deficiencies in the existing system. Meanwhile, the committee also expressed concern over the non-cooperative and irresponsible attitude of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials as they were unable to satisfy the Committee with their answers. The Committee therefore, decided to hold its next meeting in Lahore to discuss the overall performance of PCB. However, the IPC committee lauded the top performance given by Pakistani athletes in the recently concluded Commonwealth Games 2022.
The athletes bagged two gold, three silver and as many bronze medals in the mega event. The committee also appreciated the announcement of cash rewards for the medal winners and said this would encourage the athletes to do more and win laurels for the country.
The committee however, directed that the IPC Minister Ehsan-ur-Rehman Mazari to hold meetings with respective government functionaries of all provinces to groom the talented Pakistani players from the gross-roots level especially schools and colleges as to compete at international level.
Earlier, the IPC minister and secretary apprised the committee about the efforts made by them to promote sports and tourism in Pakistan and problems faced by them in this regards. The meeting was attended by MNAs Ms. Wajiha Qamar, Syeda Nosheen Iftikhar, Ch. Zulfiqar Ali Behan, Rana Mubashir Iqbal, Ms. Nasiba Channa, Ms. Mahreen Razzaq Bhutto, Syed Mehmood Shah, and senior officers of the concerned ministries and departments.