— The baton’s historic journey commences from Buckingham Palace in March
Pakistan Olympic Association President Lt Gen Retd Syed Asif Hasan said on Wednesday that the ‘Queen’s Baton’ of the Commonwealth Games celebrations in Pakistan will portray a soft image of the country.
“Queen’s Baton will be arriving here in Pakistan on September 29 from Cyprus and will remain in the country for four days and its presence will help in developing a positive image of the country ideal for all kind of international sports events and activities,” he said.
He told a news conference here in the presence of POA Secretary Muhammad Khalid Mahmood and other officials of the national Olympic committee. Commonwealth Games will be held from April 4 to 11 at Gold Cost, Australia. Gen Arif said that POA has arranged a number of programmes to mark the arrival and stay of Queen’s Baton in the provincial metropolis, which is a historic moment in country’s sports.
“Queen’s Baton relay is an integral part of the Commonwealth Games and it travels through all the participating countries and its historic journey commences from Buckingham palace from March next year,” he said, adding that from Pakistan, the Baton will leave for India. Highlighting the features of Queen’s Baton relay ceremony, POA chief said, “A four member team, carrying the baton, will be received at Allama Iqbal Airport, Lahore.”
“It’s welcome ceremony will be held on the same day (September 29) at a local hotel and the baton will be handed over to me,” he said, adding, “On October 2 the baton will be brought to the famous Hazuri Bagh Lahore in front of Lahore fort for the replay programme, which will be attended by former Olympians, legends of Pakistan sports.”
Gen Arif said that POA was laying special emphasis on highlighting the importance of the Queen’s Baton among the youth and that is why it has arranged events among two selected schools. He said that Pakistani sportsmen have won medals in previous editions of the Games and baton programme in schools would help in glorifying the achievements of the home stalwarts besides highlighting the history of the Games.
Answering a question, he said that it is very difficult to predict at this stage that how many medals Pakistan would likely win in the games. “We have not yet started our preparations for the mega event, Government has not yet earmarked funds for the training and grooming of our sportsmen, where as other countries in the Asia including India have allocated huge funds for the participation of its contingent in the Games.”
POA chief said that in the prevailing circumstances in the national sports, expecting medals at the Commonwealth Games was not a fair thought, given the facts that institutions related to sports in Pakistan have not taken all the stakeholders into confidence to launch collective efforts for the cause of the sports.
The Queen’s Baton carries a message from Queen Elizabeth-II that calls the Commonwealth’s athletes to come together in peaceful and friendly competition. The GC2018 Relay will be the longest and the most accessible ever, not just passing through, but spending quality time in each community it visit. In total, it will visit 71 countries, covering 200,000 miles (321,868km) in 388 days, before arriving in Australia’s Gold Coast for the games.
