ISLAMABAD: All major facilities at Pakistan Sports Complex (PSC) are lying dormant since 2020 when these were closed down to counter the Covid-19 spread.

Some of the major sports facilities were also vital sources of revenue generation for Pakistan Sports Board (PSB). These included badminton courts, swimming pool, squash courts, gym and lawn tennis.

Moreover, the federal government has also drastically slashed funding for the PSB and as a result the reopening of the sports facilities is likely to be delayed further.

Unlike the elite clubs which provide such facilities to their members only, the sports facilities at the PSC were accessible to general public, including professional and amateur players and senior citizens, through regulated membership.

After the government ended the lockdown and the elite clubs also opened their sports facilities, the management of the PSB reopened lawn tennis courts and gym but kept the other facilities shut as it started repair and maintenance work on the premises.

Safi Ahsan, 78, is an amateur swimmer and member of the swimming pool since 1992.

Since he limps and could not walk or does fitness exercise, doctors have advised him to swim to maintain fitness.

However, he said since March 2020 when the pool became inaccessible, he has developed certain health issues.

Interestingly, the repair and maintenance work, which is yet to complete, had been initiated with millions of rupees funds at a time when the financial and administrative matters of the PSB were sub judice in Islamabad High Court (IHC).

The PSB employees union in 2020 filed a petition in the IHC against execution of multi-million rupees development works through the Public Works Department (PWD).

As per the petition, a major chunk of the funds were spent on the repair of roads instead of maintenance of sports facilities.

IHC Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani deciding the petition termed the transfer of funds to PWD illegal and ordered the recovery of any loss from the officials concerned.

The PSB filed an intra-court appeal against IHC’s order which is still pending in the court.

Following the court orders, insiders said, the PSB administration did not initiate any inquiry against any official. Moreover, the administration hired an official from the PWD as the executive engineer on deputation.

They said the executive engineer rehired the same firms through which PWD had executed the development work against which the IHC had ruled.

While the development work on the badminton courts and swimming pool was near completion, the PSB was told that the federal government due to ongoing financial crunch had cut about 50pc expenditures of the Sports Complex.

Resultantly, the PSB is not in a position to timely clear the outstanding dues of the contractors, hence, the pace of work has slowed down.

PSB’s Director General Ibrar Ahmed, when contacted, admitted that the repair and maintenance could be commenced during the lockdown. He said that since he had assumed charge of the office last year, he was struggling to reopen the facilities as soon as possible.

He said the PSB had increased the fee for its members to overcome the funding issues.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2023