The war-like situation between the government and the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) over some intricate clauses in the 2005 sports policy has brought the country on verge of suspension from international sports.

The rigid stance adopted by the government of Pakistan has clearly annoyed the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which has warned of dire consequences if the dispute is not resolved lawfully and amicably.

Pakistan must not underestimate the powers of the IOC which can be judged from a recent decision taken by the oil-rich Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in allowing its two women athletes to take part in the London Olympics.

There were long negotiations between the Lausanne-based IOC and the kingdom’s sports chiefs that finally resulted in the KSA Olympic Committee allowing Wodjan Ali Seraj and Sarah Attar to participate in the Games, commencing from July 27.

It means that every single country competing in the Olympics will be represented by both male and female athletes for the first ever time.

The IOC was under tremendous pressure from human rights groups to ban Saudi Arabia from the Games had it not complied to send the women athletes.

The decision, undoubtedly, was not an easy one but in the end they found the room to accommodate the IOC’s demand to include women athletes.

Now, if a country like KSA, which is known for stoutly resisting any international interference in their matters, could bow down to the IOC, Pakistan stands little chance of violating the IOC charter and yet going unscathed.

The IOC also wants to put an end to Pakistani government’s interference in the affairs of the national sports federations and Pakistan Olympic Association (POA). The IOC has raised objections to some clauses in the government’s 2005 sports policy and has given a clear warning to Pakistan to either remove the clauses or face sanctions.

The IOC also held a joint session in Lausanne, Switzerland on June 4, inviting a representative each from the government and the POA and briefing them over the matter in detail besides warning the govt of the suspension threat.

Dawn learnt that the IOC had set July 16 as the last date for the government of Pakistan to submit its reply. In another related development, the IOC has also called its executive committee meeting on July 20 and 21 to also take up the Pakistan issue. The executive body may take any kind of action against Pakistan if the reply of the government is not found to be satisfactory.

So the situation is quite serious and the time is also running out. The government has the prime responsibility to safeguard the interest of the country instead of resorting to an ego-clash that may harm the nation’s reputation.

However, at the same time the experts feel the IOC is unlikely to take any harsh decision against Pakistan since the London Olympics are just round the corner and imposing sanctions on any member country at this stage will damage the spirit of the Olympic Games.

Meanwhile, the sports ministry should also take every step to apprise the higher authorities of the country about the developments before reaching any final decision over this matter since the nation’s interest is at stake.

On the other end, the POA should also take every step to convince the IOC not to take any drastic decision and to give more time to the government to think and analyse.

The country’s sports are already on the decline for which all the stakeholders including the government, the POA and national sports federations are responsible. Also neither the government nor the national sports federations can promote the standards of the game alone since a joint effort is required is in this regard over a considerable period of time.

One can only suggest that the government should start working out its own ranking system of the national sports federations on the basis of their performances at national and international level. Out of the lot, only those federations which are making genuine efforts to improve their ranking at the Asian and world level should be supported while the others should simply be ignored.