Islamabad (Sports Desk): A proposal has been put forward at a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Inter-Provincial Coordination to increase the cash reward for an Olympic gold medal winner from Rs10 million to Rs100 million.
During the meeting, recommendations for a new cash reward policy were forwarded to the Finance Division for approval.
On the occasion, Pakistan Hockey Federation President Mohiuddin Wani said Arshad Nadeem had received rewards worth up to Rs1 billion from various organisations. However, this amount did not include rewards offered by the private sector.
He said the Pakistan Sports Board was responsible for providing funds to sports federations. The Pakistan Football Federation does not receive government funding, while the Pakistan Cricket Board also does not receive financial assistance from the government. According to him, the use of funds by federations is subject to accountability.
Senator Rubina Khalid said it was also necessary to assess athletes’ performance and that rewards should only be given when they achieve outstanding results. She added that all sports other than cricket fall under the Pakistan Sports Board.
Mohiuddin Wani said discussions on cricket had already taken place and that the Pakistan Cricket Board was under the federal cabinet.
During the meeting, Kazim Ali argued that cricket should fall within the jurisdiction of the Inter-Provincial Coordination Committee.
Meanwhile, Senator Rubina Qaimkhani objected to Federal Minister Rana Sanaullah’s absence from the meeting, saying that the country needed inter-provincial coordination, but the minister did not appear to take the matter of attending the meeting seriously. She said attending such meetings was the right of senators.