ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) Secretary Mohammad Khalid Mehmood has sought cordial working relations with the Ministry for Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) and the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) in an effort to raise overall sports’ standard in the country, adding that the National Assembly Standing Committee on IPC has always diverted its resources towards welfare of the athletes and coaches.
In an impressive briefing given to members of the committee, the POA secretary said that the POA gets an annual grant only from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and from the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).
"We don’t get any grants from the government. We get around $200,000 annually from the IOC and OCA and this amount is diverted towards accreditation of the mega international games, meetings and facilitating players and coaches to gat national and international training. We act as an IOC Office here in Pakistan as every country’s national committee does. The POA has nothing to do with players’ direct coaching and training that is the sole responsibility of the sports boards and respective federations. Yet, we manage scholarships from the ICC for our elite athletes and help them in their trainings whenever we get an opportunity," said Mehmood.
The POA secretary during his briefing said that the two Pakistan shooters have directly qualified for the Olympics.
"It is great news for Pakistan sports as two of our leading athletes (shooters) have already qualified for the Olympics. Our performance in the Commonwealth Games was exceptional. The respective federation should be given credit for good show. Twelve top athletes are getting $750 per month from the POA for their training abroad and they will continue to get that stipend till the 2024 Paris Olympics," he said.
The secretary added that the POA had set 75-year age limit for its officials for contesting the association’s elections.
"Though there is no bar on tenure from the POA we have set 75-year age limit for all the officials to contest POA elections," he said. "There are set rules as all the internationally affiliated federations, provinces and leading departments have voting rights in the POA elections. All the details will be submitted with the NA committee at the earliest."
Our Correspondent