Friday, Sep 19, 2003
Friday, Sep 19, 2003 |
| Sport | ||||
|
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Entertainment |
Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Sport
-
Asian Games
By B. Muralidhar Reddy
"It's a unanimous decision that Pakistan should host the IX SAF Games," the acting president of the Pakistan Olympic Association, Shahid Ali Shah, told correspondents in Lahore after a meeting of the SASF. The Indian delegation was a party to the decision. The Indian Olympic Committee (IOC) president, Suresh Kalmadi, was in Lahore on Wednesday but could not attend the SASF meeting as he had to leave for south-east Asia. Mr. Kalmadi told reporters in Lahore on Wednesday that IOC was trying to convince the Indian Government not to end sports activities with Pakistan due to political problems. "Sporting relations between the two countries should remain intact under all circumstances as I believe sports is a channel through which friendship and peace can be developed in the region," he said. Formal clearance for cricket tours Our Sports Reporter adds from New Delhi The Union Sports Minister, Vikram Verma, on Thursday said that a formal clearance had been given for the triangular series in Sri Lanka involving the academy teams from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and an under-19 quadrangular series also involving Bangladesh, to be played in Pakistan. "We will wait and get the response from these two tours before clearing the tournament involving `A' teams which is to be hosted by India,'' said Mr. Verma. The Ministry of Home Affairs has to go through the security point of view before it gives a go ahead to this tour. "So, at the moment, we are not rejecting or accepting any proposal for a full India-Pakistan cricket series,'' said Mr. Verma. As regards to the SAF Games, Mr. Verma said that the ministry had given clearance only for the Indian delegation to attend the SAF Executive Committee meeting in Islamabad. "Let them decide the dates and come up with a proper proposal for the Indian contingent to be sent to Islamabad next year. It is very premature to say anything on SAF Games at this moment,'' the minister said. He said that it was Pakistan that had first sent its entries for the first Afro-Asian Games, which India was hosting at Hyderabad from October 24 to November 1. In response to a question he said that he believed the SAF Games would not be postponed this time. "I believe the planning and working for the SAF Games will work out this time and you will see the Indian contingent taking part in the Games at Islamabad," he declared while mentioning his support for Pakistan as host of the Games. He said that with the resumption of sports relations between India and Pakistan, sports like hockey, wrestling, kabbadi, swimming and athletics and even cricket would get a great boost in this region. "Pakistan and India can fight for first and second position at the Olympic level in hockey if both start activity on bilateral basis and same is the case with other sports," the IOC president said. He also welcomed the proposal presented to him by the Pakistan Cycling Federation secretary, Khawaja Idrees Hyder, for arranging a `Peace Cycle Race' from Rawalpindi to New Delhi.
Printer friendly
page
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Entertainment |
Miscellaneous |
|
|
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | Home |
Copyright © 2003, The
Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu
|
