Arain appeals to IPC, PSB to release grant for crisis-hit PNF.

Byline: Kashif Abbasi

ISLAMABAD -- The Pakistan Netball Federation on Thursday urged the Ministry of Inter-provincial Coordination (IPC) and the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) to release the overdue grant for the PNF before the end of ongoing fiscal year, emphasising the federation is facing severe financial constraint in running its affairs.

Speaking to Dawn, PNF president Mudassar Razak Arain said Pakistan's netball teams participated in the South Asian Girls Netball Championship held in Kathmandu in October 2019 (a month before the South Asian Games) for which Rs3.5 million had been sought from the PSB. 'We also applied for no-objection certificates (NOCs) to feature in this event.'

The PSB, he added, on Oct 8, 2019 had recommended a Rs2.5 million grant and referred the case to the Ministry of IPC and issued the NOC for participation in the said event. However, Arain regretted, the promised amount was yet to be released by the IPC Ministry and the PSB.

The PNF president said that delay in release of the grant, has caused problems for the federation as 'vendors are constantly demanding us to clear liabilities'.

Arain requested the IPC Minister Dr Fehmida Mirza to look into issue so that the federation could be given the grant at earliest. On June 30, the financial year is ending and PSB has sufficient funds, which should be given to the sports federations before the same get lapsed, he added.

He said that despite several challenges, the PNF has been regularly organising events in the country to promote the game adding that in ongoing financial year, the federation has organised various sports events which include men and women national championships, National Inter-provincial men and women championship. The National Netball Coaching and...