LAHORE, Jan 7: The Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) has sent a legal notice to the federal sports secretary, quoting chapter and verse from the May 8, 2012 verdict of the Supreme court, for not inviting the POA and those national sports federation whose presidents and secretaries have completed their two tenures, in the upcoming meeting of the Pakistan Sports Board to be held in Islamabad on Tuesday.

“In a clear violation of the Supreme Court orders of May 8, 2012, Olympic Charter and clear International Olympic Committee instructions communicated to the government of Pakistan in several missives, Pakistan Sports Board has not invited the POA and those national federations whose presidents and secretaries have completed their two tenures,” the POA stated in an official press statement here on Monday.

“As such POA has sent a legal notice, quoting chapter and verse from the May 8, 2012 verdict, to the federal secretary of sports who is also the secretary of the Pakistan Sports Board,” it concluded.

Meanwhile, in the legal notice, the POA also warned the PSB, “In addition to the validity of the proposed meeting being now sub judice, any discussion or decision taken in such a meeting is invalid and it shall also be in contempt of the order dated Sept 24, 2012 in writ petition No. 21071 of 2012 of the Honourable Lahore High Court, restraining the PSB from interfering with any matter concerning sports.

“The fact is that the said notice dated Dec 28, 2012 (for Tuesday meeting) has patently been issued with mala fide intentions on your part consciously omitting the president of the POA from such meeting in furtherance of your consistently illegal and mala fide attempt to exercise indirect control over our client and the autonomous functioning of our client and all national sports federations in Pakistan,” it further stated.

The government of Pakistan and the IOC are at the loggerheads. While the government wants to implement one of the clauses of the National Sports Policy-2005, regarding restriction of two term tenures of president, secretary and treasurer of the national sports federation, the IOC desires to let the general council of every federation to decide the tenure of term of these office-bearers.

A Supreme Court decision has also asked the stakeholders to follow the policy, if they want to get annual grant from the PSB.