Pak to take part in Asian Junior Basketball qualifying round in Bangalore

RAWALPINDI—Pakistan will take part in the Asian Junior Men’s Basketball Championship’s qualifying round in Bangalore (India) in July this year.
This decision, among others, was taken in the Pakistan Amateur Basketball Federation’s (PABBF) general council meeting here at the Rawalpindi Gymkhana Saturday. PABBF President Mohammad Basharat Raja chaired the meeting.
Lt Col (r) Naseem Butt, the secretary of the federation, told the House that PABBF plans to field a team in the tournament but needed financial assistance for the plan to materialise. “Lack of funds is the biggest hindrance the federation faces in such endeavours. We receive invitations to take part in international tournaments regularly but we cannot send teams abroad because of paucity of funds,” he said.
He said the federation is working towards getting financial assistance and was confident the team will take part in the qualifiers. Butt also informed that the paper work for the planned Pak-Afghan basketball series was complete and now they were awaiting clearance from the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) to go ahead with the series. “The presidents of both the countries had taken the decision to organise home and away series between basketball and volleyball teams of Pakistan and Afghanistan. We are waiting for a green signal from the PSB to stage the series.”
Pakistan’s last international basketball activity was the first Islamic Solidarity Games hosted in 2005 by Saudi Arabia.
Sindh Basketball Association Secretary Syed Ziauddin said it was very difficult to attract boys and girls to play basketball without any incentive. “Youngsters see no charm in coming to courts knowing that Pakistan does not take part in any international activity,” he said. “There are reciprocal tours in almost all other sports and that is an attraction for the youngsters. We should also have teams visiting Pakistan and our players touring other countries.” It was decided that efforts would be made to generate funds through sponsorships so that Pakistan can hold series against other countries on home and away basis, which will also upgrade the standard of the game in the country. The general council also approved affiliation of the women’s wing as per the requirement of the International Olympic Association, the Pakistan Referees and Coaches Association and the Athletes Commission with the PABBF.
Granting affiliation to the Azad Jammu & Kashmir Basketball Federation was also discussed in detail. However, the House decided to only grant playing rights to AJK with the view that they needed to work hard to improve their standard.
The general council also agreed to incorporate anti-doping and anti-discrimination policies as per the requirement of the International Olympic Association in the PABBF Constitution. Earlier this month Pakistan lost one of their former captains Sb Ghulam Haider, who died of a heart attack while on duty in Murree.—Agencies