Govt can’t dictate sports bodies on term limitation

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2012-09-20T00:30:43+05:00 Anisuddin Khan

KARACHI - A former senior sports official of Pakistan Table Tennis Federation (PTTF) commenting on the ongoing tussle between the national federations and Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) on the term limitation of officials has said the government or its agencies cannot dictate terms on the issue. Talking to TheNation here on Wednesday, SM Sibtain, who held secretarial position of the PTTF for a number of years in 70s and 80s, said: “The PSB insistence to enforce term limitation will be seen as government interference in the affairs of the national federation and it may have serious repercussion at the IOC level. The only option available to the government or the PSB is to ask those federations receiving official funds to include a clause in their constitutions about limiting the terms of the official or the officials.” Sibtain, who retired as senior member of the Federal Board of Revenue, said that the maximum the PSB could do for not implementing its directive was to suspend funding of that federation. “Any other method adopted will be seen as direct interference in the affairs of the national federations which are affiliated to various international federations who in turn are member of the Olympic moment,” he added.  He said there was misconception that all the national federations had to register them with the PSB. The national federations have the choice not to get affiliation with the PSB if they could function without getting official money and raise their own funds. “In present times, no national federation needs an NOC from the government or the PSB to send its teams to appear in the international events abroad. The NOC was introduced many years ago by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) when there were restrictions on getting foreign exchange for travel abroad. And now when the teams and the federations can raise their own foreign exchange, they can travel abroad without NOC. They even do not need an NOC of the PSB for applying for visa to travel abroad as they can apply for the visa independently and the countries, where the team is proceeding is free to grant or not to grant visas. The only exception to this rule is India. The Indian High Commission asks for an NOC of the government when a team applies for the visa of that country,” he maintained.  He said some missions of European countries in Pakistan also demand government NOC only because the Foreign Office had sent them letters that they should not entertain visa applications without an NOC by the PSB. “Once the team receives an invitation from any foreign land to appear in an international event, it is sufficient to get visa but because of the interference from the Foreign Ministry, some times these visas were denied,” he concluded. 

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