The battle between CFP and POA

POA not willing to give affiliation to Pakistan Chess Federation

By Mirza Iqbal Baig

KARACHI: The officials of Chess Federation of Pakistan (CFP) have criticized the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) for not giving the CFP affiliation with the National Olympic Committee. Zainuddin Khilji, the senior vice president of the CFP, told Daily Times here on Wednesday that when he was the secretary general of the federation he wrote a letter to the POA that the World Chess Federation (WCF) had advised the CFP to get affiliation with the POA as this game was affiliated with the World Olympic Committee.

Khilji said the POA put a condition that services must be affiliated with the CFP otherwise the national federation could not get affiliation. “We completed all the required formalities but still we have not been able to get affiliation with the POA,” he lamented.

He said the CFP wrote to the POA that all the four provinces, Pakistan WAPDA, Pakistan Railways, Pakistan International Airlines and Higher Education Commission were affiliated with the federation and the CFP’s associations were working at the provincial level in all provinces of the country. “The POA’s stubborn attitude is the main reason why the CFP is not getting affiliation,” he maintained.

Khilji said former sports minister of Balochistan Younis Changezi and secretary general of the Balochistan Olympic Association Afzal Awan also tried to convince the POA but in vain. CFP secretary general Abdus Saleem said the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) was giving an annual grant of Rs 200,000 to the chess federation but that was insufficient to organise chess events at the national level. He requested the federal sports minister to help the federation get affiliation with the POA.

Source: www.dailytimes.com.pk