The 34th National Games are in danger of being postponed again due to growing civil unrest in the country following the arrest of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) founder Imran Khan.
The former Prime Minster’s arrest from Islamabad has led to country-wide protests with Federal Government acquiring help from Pakistan’s Army in order to get the situation under control.
However, the growing turmoil is expected to affect the sporting world as well with the upcoming National Games the likeliest victims. The Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) has called a high-level meeting to discuss the fate of the competition.
According to POA’s Secretary General Khalid Mahmood, the president of POA Arif Hassan will chair a meeting which will involve all the associations and other stakeholders before a final decision is made on the fate of the tournament.
This will not be the first time that National Games have been postponed. The games have been marred in some form of controversy ever since their announcement.
After all the chaos, May 12th was finalised as the date for the start of the tournament but that may have to be changed yet again.
32 disciplines have been finalised for the event which is set to take place in Quetta with over 3000 athletes set to participate if the event ever gets off the ground.
Pakistan Army is the defending champion.
