ISLAMABAD: Ignoring Supreme Court’s directives given to the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination to ensure implementation of National Sports Policy 2005, the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) has issued a Rs 2 million grant to the Pakistan Volleyball Federation (PVF).

Officials of the PVF also hold office in violation of the National Sports Policy, Dawn has learnt.

“The PSB has released the grant as per directives of the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination secretary since the team along with its president flew to Bulgaria for an international competition,” said a senior official of the PVF.

However, the official said that giving funds to a federation which has violated the National Sports Policy with a Supreme Court verdict clearly ordering the PSB to implement the sports policy 2005 which bars officials from third consecutive tenure is a question mark over the PSB and officials of the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination.

When Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani was approached to comment over the release of Rs2 million, his media representative said: “Concerns related to release of the grant to the national volleyball federation are conveyed to the minister. However, we will give an answer after getting an input from him (Mr Bijarani).”

Despite multiple attempts, PSB director general Amir Hamza Gilani and Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination secretary Anisul Husnain Musavi were not available to give their comments.

It is pertinent to mention that the apex court has recently barred national sports federation officials from holding office for the third consecutive tenure.

However, volleyball federation officials are holding positions for the third consecutive term in violation of the sports policy.

According to a clause of the national sports policy, “President, honorary secretary and the treasurer will be allowed a maximum of two tenures in any office of the federation or association, after which they will become ineligible for holding the same posts of that particular federation or association. However, they will be allowed to contest for next higher post/association at any time.”

The clause further says that tenure restrictions will not be applicable on office-bearers of the federations holding posts of president or secretary of world or Asian federation.

It was early last year that some federations had challenged the clauses related to tenure restrictions in the national sports policy and filed writ petitions in the Lahore High Court.

The high court declared the tenure restriction clause as unconstitutional.

However, the Supreme Court upheld the clauses of National Sports Policy regarding tenure restrictions.