Failures in Tokyo Olympics: Govt seeks resignation from POA president

• The federal government has sought resignation from Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) President Lt Gen (r) Arif Hasan.
• Shahbaz Gill and Fehmida Mirza have demanded resignation from the POA president, blaming him of all the ills in sports and failures at the Olympic level.
• Dr Fehmida says Arif had been calling the shots for the last 17 years now.

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has asked Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) President Lt Gen (r) Arif Hasan to tender his resignation from the post over failures in the Tokyo Olympics, it emerged on Friday.

According to a report published in The News, Special Assistant to Prime Minister Shahbaz Gill along with Minister for IPC Dr Fehmida Mirza has demanded resignation from the POA president, blaming him of all the ills in sports and failures at the Olympic level.

“I am sharing with you the decision we have reached today following the meeting with the prime minister. We demand the POA president to resign from the post along with his team so that the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) Election Commission should conduct new elections after settling all the pending issues,” Shahbaz Gill and IPC minister jointly said.

Shahbaz Gill said that Lt Gen (r) Arif Hasan was neither a government’s representative nor had the government had any hand in his appointment.

“They have their own process. It is wrong to assume that Arif Hasan is a government representative or that the government has anything to do with his appointment.”

Dr Fehmida said that Arif had been calling the shots for the last 17 years now.

“What is wrong in sports is because of him and the federations. He has kept on electing himself as the president of the POA and succeeded in managing his elections through officials of his own choice.”

She also expressed her displeasure over the POA decision to remove the name of the president of Pakistan as the Patron of the POA.

“The name of the head of state has been there since 1948. Why the name of the head of the state has been removed in 2019. There was no obligation from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) then why the name has been removed,” she questioned.

Fehmida added that a sports policy would soon get cabinet approval. “It will be tabled before the cabinet soon. We have already circulated the policy with the federations and now it will be tabled before the federal cabinet.”

She questioned as to why no new sports policy was formulated after devolving powers to the provinces.

Fehmida also looked firm on the Establishment of Election Commission and Dispute Resolution Commission.

“Now it will be the government that will conduct elections of sports federations through the PSB nominated election commission. This commission will be headed by a retired judge. We will also establish a Dispute Resolution Commission which will deal with the discipline case of players and officials. We are doing it on the lines of the Indian Olympic and their government’s rules and regulations.”

Dr Fehmida also criticized POA Secretary Mohammad Khalid Mehmood, saying that he did not have any representation. “His boxing federation is not being recognized by the international body. We will recognize only those federations which would have international backing.”

When questioned about the future of the forthcoming South Asian Games to be held in Pakistan if the newly ignited tussle would aggravate further. “It is the POA that should think about that, not the government.”

The IPC minister also brandished a few letters from the POA which were sent to the government. “The POA demands MOUs the government has signed with international bodies before giving their feedback on the new Sports Policy. How dare they ask us to furnish the details.”