‘Diet provided at national camps far below desirable standard’

KARACHI: A couple of years ago a leading Pakistan player said that one could not become a world champion through the diet which the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) offers the players during national camps at Islamabad.Pakistan’s former volleyball coach, Iranian Hamid Movahedi, also used to criticise the PSB for providing sub-standard diet to the players during camps. When this correspondent discussed the issue with some players of different sports disciplines they were unanimous in their approach and said that the PSB should improve the quality of the diet.This correspondent has learnt that for the last three years the Board has been spending Rs750 on a player's diet for a single day. A former international player said that it was a joke, referring to the Rs750 diet allowance. “In these days of immense inflation Rs750 is too small an amount and it is not possible to manage breakfast, lunch and dinner,” the player said.He said that the athletes also needed juices and dry fruit during training and with that amount it was not possible. A national coach said that the Board should approve around Rs2000 per player for a daily diet. “I think it would be better if the diet allowance was raised to Rs2000,” the coach said.When a senior official of the PSB was contacted he said that they were doing whatever they could for providing healthy diet to the players during national camps. “Currently the budget is Rs750 per player and within this amount we are managing the diet of the players. The amount was fixed three years ago by the Board’s ExCo,” said the official, who manages the players' food at the PSB Hostel in Islamabad.It is pertinent to mention here that three years ago the diet allowance of the players was Rs500 per head per day. “Now the plan is to increase the amount,” the official said. He was quick to add that when camps for the 13th South Asian Games would begin juices would also be managed for the players.“I have been told that the camps for SAG would also start in the next few days and effort would be made to provide healthy diet to the athletes,” the official said. The volleyball camp is in progress at the Pakistan Sports Complex, Islamabad, for preparations for the Asian Under-23 Volleyball Championships being held in Myanmar early next month.A former international athlete urged the PSB to focus on providing healthier diet to the players during camps. “The players feel weakness if after training they are not provided with desirable diet. It affects their performance,” a former international athlete said. However, he was quick to add that athletes of different disciplines required different types of diet.

from The News International - Sports https://ift.tt/2LAvzjv