ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) has proposed a sizeable 486-member contingent for the 19th Asian Games scheduled for Hangzhou (China) from September 23 to October 8.
The first meeting between POA and Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) officials to finalise the Asian Games contingent was held on video link Wednesday in which the national Olympic Committee has submitted a 486-member contingent (sports wise) for the government to support.
The meeting was held between the newly appointed Director General PSB Shoaib Khoso and Secretary POA Mohammad Khalid Mehmood while it also included other officials from both sides.
The POA has also confirmed Pakistan participation in the 40 sports with football carrying the largest squad of 26 members with hockey being the second largest at 25. These include athletes and officials. The contingent includes 209 male and 39 female athletes. As many as 85 male officials (including coaches, contingent officials and technical members) and ten female officials are also part of the contingent.
Baseball proposed squad will consist of 16 athletes and three officials. Cricket, mind sports and cycling members have been excluded as cricket usually supports its own teams while cycling standard in the country is too low to get the POA backing.
“If there is any cyclist who could be in a position to compete against the best in Asia, he would be accommodated accordingly, though the POA is not recognizing the cycling federation,” one of the POA officials when contacted, said.
The proposed athletics contingent is of 16 players that include two female athletes accompanied by one female official. Handball proposed squad is of 15 members including three officials. Archery, equestrian and gymnastic will be having the smallest of contingents.
However, it is unlikely that the Ministry of Inter-provincial Coordination (IPC) or the PSB will financially support such a big contingent. During the last Asian Games, the PSB supported a contingent of around 250 and chances are that around the same number will be financially supported.
“Though these are initial working on the contingent, the PSB or for that matter the Ministry will not be in a position to support such a big contingent. We have proposed meeting with POA before finalizing the contingent for the Asia Games. What we want is to see that at least the games in which we participate should either have the potential to win medals or at least should have the capacity to compete with the best in Asia,” he said.
Abdul Mohi Shah Abdul Mohi Shah is a senior reporter for The News