Pakistan not fully prepared for South Asian Games: Khalid

KARACHI: A senior official of Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) on Saturday conceded that the country’s preparation for the 13th South Asian Games was not up to the mark for any international event.“Our athletes are preparing for National Games but the preparation which is required for featuring in any international event is not being there,” POA secretary Khalid Mehmood told ‘The News’ here on Saturday.When asked whether Pakistan would field a small contingent in the biennial spectacle in the prevailing situation Khalid said, “It depends on the support of the government.”The 13th South Asian Games are slated to be held in Nepal’s cities of Kathmandu and Pokhara from December 1-10.The issue is that the state is not sponsoring national camps for the biennial event. The Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) has already made it clear that until the end of the 33rd National Games slated to be held in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from October 26 to November 1 it would not hold any official camp for SAG. And after the National Games, there will be only three weeks left in which adequate preparations cannot be made for the Games.Khalid, however, dispelled the impression that there was any chance of the postponement of the SAG. “Nepal is hundred percent ready,” he said.Khalid, meanwhile, was satisfied with the preparations for the 33rd National Games. “I think preparations for National Games are quite good. KP Olympic Association and KP government are on the same page. They are making collective efforts. And we are in contact with national federations and participating units. I am confident it will be a good event,” said Khalid, who is also the president of Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF).About the demand of the tribal areas’ players and officials for fielding a separate contingent in the National Games, Khalid said: “I cannot say who is backing all these protest demonstrations. It is a constitutional matter. FATA cannot field its separate contingent in National Games. They will have to come into mainstream with KP. Using the word FATA now is constitutionally wrong. Yes, athletes of that area should be given full opportunity. I have talked to the KP government’s people and KP Olympic Association. They are being given full opportunity through open trials,” Khalid said.He also made it clear that judo, cycling, athletics and football would be part of National Games. “These disciplines will be part of National Games. But the issue is that those federations which are suspended and will not follow our instructions and directives we will constitute a special committee for them with the representation of the KP Olympic Association, KP Sports Board and POA,” he said.“There is Normalisation Committee for football but it has not given us things we require. We will decide its National Games participation on October 10 at the POA General Council meeting,” Khalid said.When asked whether NC has written any letter to the POA regarding football inclusion in National Games, Khalid said the NC had not written to the POA but rather NOC wrote to it. “We wrote to FIFA to tell us about football status as we want to hold National Games. The world body said that it would inform us when NC was composed. We then wrote to NC which told us to include football in National Games,” Khalid said.He said that football inclusion in the 13th South Asian Games would also be decided by the POA General Council on October 10 at Lahore.

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