ISLAMABAD   -  Federal Minister for Inter Provincial Coordination (IPC) Dr Fehmida Mirza on Thursday held meetings with the presidents of Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) and Pakistan Taekwondo Federations (PTF) and discussed matters related to National Sports Policy and other sports concerns.

According to PSB spokesman, Dr Fehmida, who is also president of Pakistan Sports Board (PSB), held separate meetings with PHF President Brig (r) Khalid Sajjad Khokar and PTF President Lt Col (r) Wasim Ahmed Janjua. In the meeting, the minister asked the presidents of the federations to provide input on the salient features of the National Sports Policy. 

She said role of all stakeholders including federal and provincial government, national federations, Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) is important and they should play it in a fair manner but the instructions will be provided by the federal government. “We want to give Pakistan a free and fair policy for our children. We have issues like parallel federations and fake clubs but we are trying to address them through a new national policy,” she said. 

In the meeting, sports infrastructure development was also discussed. The minister said the government wants to provide a system through National Support Policy. She said the views of all stakeholders will be sought in the formation of National Sports Policy, Independent Election Commission and Dispute Resolution Committee. “In this regard, a series of meetings have been started with the national federations, after which a meeting with the National Olympic Association will also be held in the coming days.”

“This Independent Election Commission will be formed after consultation with the provinces and national federations. The Dispute Resolution Committee will be able to resolve all internal disputes of federations and issues regarding selection on merit without any delay,” she added. 

In the meeting, the PHF President said the national federations cannot be made functional without the support of government. About Dispute Resolution Committee, he said it would be a better platform for resolving sports issues and the issue of parallel federations should be resolved. 

The PTF President said the general body of the federations should be given importance as it elects people. He suggested that the relevant International Sports Body’s representation should also be in the Election Commission. He also conveyed his views on the National Sports Policy, Election Commission and Dispute Resolution Committee to the minister. 

The minister said the PSB was an independent body and it can be expected that an independent Election Commission would be set up through it, as all stakeholders have their representation in PSB including POA. “We want to introduce new technology to solve the issues of scrutiny of sports clubs therefore the record of all clubs of National Federations should also be available with PSB.”