Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Shahid Zaman and Director General Sports Punjab Dr Asif Tufail chair an important meeting of 20 provincial sports associations to dig out the factors behind a pathetic performance in 19th Asian Games

Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Shahid Zaman and Director General Sports Punjab Dr Asif Tufail presided over an important meeting of senior representatives of 20 provincial sports associations at the National Hockey Stadium on Wednesday.
The key meeting was convened to dig out the factors and reasons behind a pathetic performance of the national contingent that fetched only three medals including one silver and two bronze medals in the recently-concluded 19th Asian Games at Hangzhou, China.
Deputy Secretary Sports Punjab, Director Sports Yasmeen Akhtar, Deputy Director Zahoor Ahmed, Chief Sports Consultant Hafeez Bhatti, SBP PRO Abdul Rauf and other officials were also present on this occasion.
Addressing the meeting, Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Shahid Zaman said that the promotion of sports is the prime objective of Sports Board Punjab. “It is our obligation to leave an inspiring sports future for our next generations. Our sports associations must evaluate their selection method according to which they selected their respective contingents for Asian Games”.
Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Shahid Zaman further said that it is the right time for all stakeholders including provincial sports associations to make concrete plans for future international sports competitions. “The selection of athletes for international sports events must be on merit and it is the only way through which our sports contingents could script some encouraging performances”.
Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Shahid Zaman said that we need to make collective efforts for the bright future of sports in the province. “We need to curb the trend of liking and disliking when it comes to selection of different sports squads for international sports competitions”.
Addressing the meeting, Director General Sports Punjab Dr Asif Tufail said that winning only three medals in the Asian Games is an alarming situation. “We need to bring some revolutionary changes in the existing sports system in the province. This disappointing result is not less than a wake-up call for all provincial stakeholders,” he added.
Highlighting the significance of Annual Sports Calendar, Director General Sports Punjab Dr Asif Tufail said that Sports Board Punjab will provide free sports facilities to those sports associations which will present a Sports Calendar of their own sports activities. “And such sports associations will be banned which failed to provide a Sports Calendar of their sports events”.
Director General Sports Punjab Dr Asif Tufai said that the registration of the sports clubs is being done across the province to promote sports culture among the young generation. “After registration, these clubs will be eligible to get government grants, holding of regular trials and competitions, prizes and scholarships for players and free of cost playing grounds and other facilities”.
Director General Sports Punjab Dr Asif Tufail said that definitely, it is a major development to register sports clubs as per constitution of Sports Board Punjab and this activity has never been done at such a large scale in the past. He directed the senior office-bearers of provincial sports associations to adopt a professional line of action and make joint endeavours for better results in future world sports events.
Director General Sports Punjab Dr Asif Tufail said that this is a good forum for discussing different sports issues and finding their solutions. “We will try to hold this kind of meeting after every two months”.
The senior office-bearers of provincial sports associations briefed the meeting about the reasons and factors for their poor results in Asian Games. They also offered different suggestions for positive performances in future world sports events.
They said that there should be a maximum number of sports camps, doping clubs, and holding of sports events in the province to give maximum playing opportunities to young athletes. They also appreciated Sports Board Punjab’s summer camp and talent hunt scheme.
The senior office-bearers of 20 provincial sports associations lauded this kind of meeting organized by Sports Board Punjab. “There should be sports complexes in all housing societies. This measure will provide playing facilities to a large number of young talented athletes. The standard of coaching also needs to be improved,” they suggested.
The senior office-bearers of 20 provincial sports associations including Irfanullah Khan of Punjab Table Tennis Association, Tahir Waheed Jutt, Shahid Iqbal Raja (Kabaddi), Tayyab Sohail (Badminton), Amir Shahzad Butt (Wushu), M Jahangir (karate), Aurangzeb Ali, Malik Imran Ali Liaqat (Archery), Atif Shafique (Swimming), MB Javed (Volleyball), Syed Habib Shah (Athletics), Zubair Yousaf Butt, M Ali Butt (Weightlifting), Dr Izharul Haq (Taekwondo), Ghulam Farid (Wrestling), Asim Raza (Tennis) Prof Imtiaz Ahmed Khan (Rowing), Maj Kashif Bhatti (Golf) attended the key meeting.