Chief Secretary KP Reopens Sports Activities In Peshawar Sports Complex, Amidst Great Enthusiasm

Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Dr. Kazim Niaz formally reopened the sports activities in Peshawar Sports Complex, having facilities for all 28 games affiliated with Pakistan Olympic Association here on Monday

PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th Aug, 2020 ) :Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Dr. Kazim Niaz formally reopened the sports activities in Peshawar Sports Complex, having facilities for all 28 games affiliated with Pakistan Olympic Association here on Monday.

There were historical moments when hundreds of enthusiastic sportswomen and sportsmen were there standing in cues just behind the main gate of Peshawar Sports Complex, holding balloons, national flags by chanted slogan "Pakistan Zindabad, Pakistan Paindabad" "Gy way Gy way Pakistan".

Soon after opening the gate by Chief Secretary Dr. Kazim Niaz for formally opening of all the sports activities, great enthusiasm witnessed among the players present on this occasion.

Former World Champion Qamar Zaman, former World No. 2 Mohib Ullah Khan, Secretary Sports Abid Majeed, DG Sports KP Asfandyar Khan Khattak, Director Sports Female Games Miss Rashida Ghaznavi, Project Director 1000 Ground Murad Ali and Secretary General AIPs Asia Amjad Aziz Malik were accompanied the Chief Secretary during the entrance from the main gate of Peshawar Sports Complex.

Director Operation Syed Saqlain Shah, Director Development Niamat Ullah Marwat, Deputy Director Sports Aziz Ullah Jan, two times gold medalist of the South Asian Games Khalid Noor, Director Coaches Shah Faisal, international athletic coach Syed Jaffar Shah, squash coach Muhammad Waseem, Munawar Zaman, Muhammad Tahir Khan, KP cricket academy coaches Aziz Ur Rehman, Bakhtiar Khan, Pervez Khan, coaches of the other games, players, organizers and office-bearers of various associations were also present.

The players were largely eulogized when the gates were opened of all facilities of 28 different games inside the Peshawar Sports Complex, followed by release of balloons, and pigeons in the air to express happiness.

It is worth mentioning here that the players were banned since March 18, the day when a Kabaddi final match of the Under-21 Games played soon after the outbreak of Coronavirus that struck completely all the sporting activities, particularly training sessions of the national and international athletes.

"I am feeling love and respect toward the players who are the real Ambassadors for winning back name and fame for Pakistan at national and international levels," Chief Secretary KP Dr Kazim Niaz said while talking to the media men soon after the colourful inauguration ceremony.

"Today is a historical day with the resumption of sports activities," he said. "Unfortunately, economic and sports activities were suspended due to the Corona epidemic in which the athletes acted responsibly and complied with the government's decision and followed the SOPs issued by the provincial and Federal government," he remarked.

He said that the first attempt of the government was to suspend sports and tourism activities in order to reduce the risk due to the outbreak of coronavirus to our youngsters. He said, due to the suspension of sports activities for the last 5 months, the players faced hardship because of the suspension.

He said that the Prime Minister of Pakistan and the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan had introduced balance policies and acted positively and their balance policies yielded excellent results, which were recognized by the world as well.

He said that the government does not want to ban sports activities again, so it is necessary for the players to follow SOPs, including wearing masks, social distancing and avoid contact Games so we could succeed completely in eliminating coronavirus from our society.

He said that just as the people cooperated in the lock down, now the SOPs should be treated in the same manner to reduce the dangers of COVID-19. He said that the soil of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was very fertile in terms of sports. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa produced many legends in the field of sports who have made the country and the nation proud and famous.

Earlier, for the inauguration of sports activities and opening of all the sports facilities including Peshawar Sports Complex and Sports facilities of the Sports, Chief Secretary KP Dr. Kazim Niaz released a pigeon, followed by a 100m sprint race. Pervez Khan won gold medal with his time 11.02sec, followed by Ammar with silver medal and Osama.

Chief Secretary KP Dr. Kazim Niaz awarded gold, silver and bronze medals and assured the players that the Government would continue their efforts for facilitating the players' facilities wise extending financial and moral support.