ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Inter-provincial Coordination on Tuesday suggested that the PCB be placed under the IPC ministry once more, despite harshly criticizing the previous interim government for placing the PCB under the purview of the Cabinet Division.
The IPC committee unanimously suggested that the PCB be placed under the purview of the IPC ministry, pointing out that 44 other sports federations were functioning under it. The meeting took place here at the Pakistan Sports Complex, with MNA Sanaullah Khan Mastikhel serving as chair.
According to Sanaullah, the caretaker administration chose to transfer the PCB from the IPC domain to the Cabinet Division, which was outside its mandate.
The committee’s chairman declared, “All decisions [pertaining to the PCB] made by the caretaker government stand dissolved,” stressing that only elected members were authorized to make such choices.
According to Sanaullah, the interim administration placed the PCB under the Cabinet Division on February 19 through a notice, just days before the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led government was formed this year.
As the committee resolved to write a letter to the PM to revoke the notification issued by the interim administration on February 19, he pondered, “We want to know the reasons [as to] why the PCB is a holy cow.”
Sanaullah expressed his displeasure that PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi was not present at the NA committee meeting and suggested that he be invited to the next one.
The MNA insisted that even though the [PCB chairman] is also the [federal] interior minister, he must attend [the] committee sessions.
Speaking to the media later, Sanaullah insisted that politics and sports should not be combined and urged India to bring its cricket team to Pakistan to compete in the ICC Champions Trophy.
Yasir Pirzada, the director general of the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB), briefed the committee on the organization’s accomplishments during the previous five years.
Yasir claims that during that time, the PSB coached more than 4,000 athletes and helped them compete internationally, where Pakistan took home 154 medals, including 38 gold.
PSB’s dedication to excellence is demonstrated by initiatives like the creation of the Arshad Nadeem High Performance Academy and the modernization of sports facilities, he continued.
A new sports policy has also been sent to the government for approval, the PSB director general added.
The national champions of a sport would now receive Rs 1 million in prize money, he noted, as part of a new award scheme. According to the PSB official, bronze medallist Haider Ali of the Paris Paralympic Games will receive Rs5 million as a reward under the new regulations.
Yasir also told the NA committee that over the last five years, the PSB has given national sports federations grants totaling more than Rs1 billion and medal-winning athletes Rs45.25 million.
