The Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) hosted a reception and luncheon in honour of the newly crowned World Snooker Champion, Mohammad Asif here on Monday. The Pakistani cueist had won the prestigious global title in Sofia, Bulgaria on December 2 to become only the second Pakistani to achieve the distinction. Mohammad Yousuf was the first to the world snooker summit, winning the very same title in 1994.
The reception was attended by a large number of leaders and officials from the extended Olympic family that spread across provincial associations, national federations, former and present sportsmen while it also had considerable representation from print and electronic media.
The prominent among those were: Secretary General of the Punjab Olympic Association Mr. Idris Haider Khawaja, Presidents and Secretaries of Volleyball, Baseball, Boxing, Ju-Jitsu, Wrestling, Karate, Taekwondo Federations and Snooker and Billiards Association President. Speaking at the occasion, POA President Lt Gen (Retd) Arif Hasan, HI(M) was profuse in praising Asif’s world-conquering endeavour. “This is no mean achievement and reflects positively on the inherent talent of our youth and their indomitable spirit to conquer not just the adversary but the odds stacked against them”, said Gen. Arif. The POA President also handed a cheque of Rs.200,000 to Asif “as a token of appreciation from a grateful sporting fraternity that not only rejoices at Asif’s landmark achievement but also takes inspiration from his triumph.”
The Snooker and Billiards Association’s contribution in finding resources to send two of its cueists to the World Championship without any assistance whatsoever from the Pakistan Sports Board was also acknowledged. A cheque of Rs.100,000 was presented to the secretary of the Association. “Coming from the sporting city, the city of Faisalabad, Asif must have gone through some difficult times. Yet he ploughed on like a true sportsmen, his fortitude guiding him towards ultimate glory. “This is something that we all must learn from. As in three day’s time we launch our National Games 2012, Asif is a sort of beacon for all of us. But most especially for the Punjab Olympic Association, the hosts of the Games, he should be the mascot,” said Gen. Arif.
With the denial of first the funds to host the Games and then locking the Pb.OA out of the premier venues under the Punjab administration’s control, the entire media was curious and fired questions about the fate of the National Games 2012, about the various controversies etc. The POA president replied the questions fired at him at a furious pace with calm and poise.
“We are being denied the best stadia in the country by the Punjab administration and the sophisticated equipment like mats and other gadgets to measure timings etc. by the Pakistan Sports Board. Ironically this equipment was gifted to them in 2004 and afterwards by the POA subsidiary, the Pakistan Sports Trust. But the Games shall be held even if we have to organize our events in a katcha field. “First we were bullied into postponing the Games for the Youth Festival, then came the International Youth Festival. Now I read in the newspaper that the issue of POA’s legitimacy is being raised. All the provinces are coming, Sindh has even chartered a plane to ferry its athletes to Lahore and back. The affiliated departmental teams have all confirmed participation.
“When legitimacy is not an issue with so many entities, how could Punjab raise this bogey?
“The legitimacy of a body is decided from within, by its constituents. They are reaffirming it for the umpteenth time in the last 10 months with their participation in the National Games – which were by the way initiated by the Quaid-e-Azam.
“The Punjab administration has no right to deny sportsmen from all over the country the public facilities at virtually the last minute for these were paid for by the taxpayers.
“As for the financing, the Punjab administration may have found multi-billion rupees to finance a festival. They do not have a puny Rs.50 Million for the National Games. Fine, we shall do it on our own, even if we have to cut corners.
“The POA is contributing as well from its own coffers”, he concluded.
