Aboxing academy, named after Pakistani origin British boxer Aamir Khan, is being set up at the same place in the Nishtar Sports Complex where two attempts to build an indoor gymnasium did not succeed in the past.

The work on the academy will begin soon after a briefing to Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif by the Sports Board of Punjab. Hopefully, the place will see a complete gymnasium there without any hurdle. The project will allow Aamir to start coaching Pakistani boxers with international standards.

Back in 1971, the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) had started the construction of a gymnasium at the same place. Soon after a dispute between the contractor and the PSB occurred and the construction work was stopped. In 2006, the PSB sanctioned Rs110 million for two projects -- the gymnasium and country’s lone cycling velodrome -- but again both projects faced the same fate. This time the Punjab government wanted to lease some area of the Sports Complex to a UAE government personality to build a mega complex in front of the Nishtar Complex. The government ordered the PSB to stop work on the indoor gymnasium, saying that the land was not leased out to them. Surprisingly, the Punjab government came to know after 35 years that the land given to the PSB was without lease. Soon after 2008 elections, Mr Sharif cancelled the deal with the UAE. But the PSB could not decide about the fate of the two projects until Mr Sharif made a promise with Aamir Khan to build an academy for him. Now the Sports Board of Punjab is ready to execute the plan. One hopes the place will not see another disaster and boxing gym will be built as per plan.

Hopefully, another dispute between the Sports Board of Punjab and the PSB over two training halls in the National Sports Coaching Centre will also be resolved amicably. Currently, both training halls are in the control of the PSB, where it holds training sessions of national teams. But the Punjab board has the stance that both training halls are part of the original map of the gymnasium, so they should be handed over to it. Both boards have no other place to organise training camps for their teams.

Both boards should resolve the problem amicably, instead of making it a matter of prestige, since both are working to promote sports.

The Lahore Regional Cricket Association (LRCA) seems in troubles after its key players -- Kamran Akmal, Nasir Jamshed and Imran Farhat -- have decided to represent the Multan Region in the upcoming National T20 Cricket Championships.

The three Test discarded were included in the Lahore Blues team, but recently they went to sign their contract with the Multan Region. Having with no good options, the LRCA included tainted players Salman Butt and Muhammad Asif in the team, to make up the absence of the three players. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) did not allow the LRCA to include both tainted players, saying they have yet to go through a rehabilitation programme. The ICC had banned Asif and Salman along with Muhammad Aamir from playing cricket for their involvement in a spot-fixing case in the Lord’s Test against England in 2010. But this month, the ICC waived off the ban after five years allowing them to play international and domestic cricket. But the PCB refused to allow both Asif and Salman to play cricket, as they first have to go through a rehab programme which will end on February 28, 2016.

The Lahore Blues has to play a qualify round of the National T20, starting in Rawalpindi from September 1, where on the chart it seems a weak team due to the developments.

Next week, the Lahore District Gymnastics Association will hold an inter-school and club-level gymnastics event at Shahdara Town Sports Complex. Different events of the game are part of the event.

It is a right move to hold such competitions at the grassroots level to promote the game, which has been ignored in the country. The association has formed different committees to hold the event in a successful manner.

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2015

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