Football fans in Lahore will get a chance to see eight top international footballers in action at Fortress Stadium today (Sunday). Among the star footballers are Ronaldinho of Brazil, Davis James of England and George Boateng (Dutch). It is the first time that top footballers are visiting Lahore. They landed in Islamabad on Saturday and then flew to Karachi by a special plane of Pakistan Army which is providing security to the international guests.

In Karachi, the footballers will play a seven-a-side match late on Saturday night and then they will reach Lahore on the second leg of the tour. In Lahore, the visitors have the programme to see the historical places of the city before leaving back on Monday.

Pakistan has no standing in the world of football; it stands at 200th in the FIFA ranking. There are 206 teams in total. A good number of fans of the game are expected to throng Fortress Stadium to watch the match though the rates of the tickets for enclosures are high.

It is learnt that the Punjab government was reluctant to provide security to the organisers but the army showed interest in organising it.

The Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) celebrated the Olympic Day in major cities of the country in the last week. In Punjab, the day was observed in Lahore and Faisalabad. The International Olympic Committee (IOC), the biggest sports body of the world, observes the day throughout the world through its affiliated countries.

In Lahore, hundreds of athletes of all ages gathered at Punjab Stadium for a walk. All the athletes with their officials and coaches walked for almost 400 metres to reach the nearby indoor gymnasium hall where the Pakistan Wrestling Federation arranged five bouts of the wrestlers to celebrate the day.

Former national hockey captain Manzoor Junior, under whose captaincy Pakistan won the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, also took part in the walk. No other prominent player of any other game or sport was seen on the occasion.

After the wrestling bouts, POA President retired Lt Gen Arif Hasan highlighted the importance of the day. He said the day was being celebrated as part to highlight the Olympic values and to inspire the nation towards sports. He said the IOC was doing efforts to promote culture of sports throughout the world by different means.

The POA president said sports culture should also be promoted in the country to build a healthy society.

POA Secretary Khalid Mahmood said the day was also celebrated in Faisalabad, where Pakistan Handball Federation organised matches and a walk. He said in Peshawar, Karachi and Quetta, the day was also celebrated on different days.

The positive aspect of the celebrations in Lahore was the appearance of Sports Board Punjab Director General Zulifqar Ghumman. Since 2012, the federal and provincial governments had dissociated them from the POA and its provincial chapters.

The Lahore Region Cricket Association (LRCA) in collaboration with the National Cricket Academy of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to start an eight-month Academy. Forty U-19 cricketers will attend it. The academies as part of the NCA programme to polish the upcoming talent are also being held in other 15 regions of the PCB. All the expenses of foods and attires are being borne by the NCA, while facilities of gym training and accommodation are to be provided by the LRCA. The academy will start on July 10 and continue till Sept 2.

NCA’s coaches, former cricketers namely Sajjad Akbar as head coach along with Saud Khan and Talat Mirza as assistant coaches will run the academy. The LRCA president, Khwaja Nadeem, said the special focus would be on the fitness level.

Last week, Pakistan Baseball Federation President Syed Khawar Shah, who is also executive director of West Asia Baseball Association, earned an award for promoting the game in the region. The award was given by Baseball Federation of Asia President Mr Tom Peng in the presence of the Mr Reccardo Fraccari, president World Baseball and Softball Confederation, at a meeting held in Taiwan.

Khawar thanked the Asian body for recognising his services for the second time.

Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2017