Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Youth Affairs Muhammad Usman Dar wants sports to become a part of the economy, as to attract and provide with jobs in the said sector. “The day we launched Kamyab Jawan Sports Drive, the very next day we received a call from Lahore Qalandars that they want to assist us in cricket so that the talented youth can come to fore,” he along with Lahore Qalandars CEO Atif Rana, said in a presser here on Friday.
They also held trials in Islamabad and Sailkot in which many players featured. “We are proud to announce that bowler Muhammad Zahid is a find of Kamyab Jawan Sports Drive. We took him to meet the Prime Minister Imran Khan also. Zahid will further be groomed under the development program,” he said. He urged the provinces, national sports federations, the society and all stakeholders to work for the betterment of sports as after the 18th amendment sports was a devolved subject.
“I want sports to get the status of economy in Pakistan so that the youth can get opportunities to come to fore,” he said. I want all stakeholders to work like the Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchises and Lahore Qalandars for the betterment of sports. The way players like Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf was a find of Lahore Qalandars players’ development programme, I want players like them to come forward,” he said. Dar said according to an United National Development Programme (UNDP) 94 percent of youth didn’t had access to grounds and sports facilities and this was the reason I want to work for the youth of this country so that they can display their abilities in every field.
Dar also announced that Kamyab Jawan Heros of different projects would be given free entry in the matches of Lahore Qalandars and Karachi Kings of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season seven at Karachi and Lahore. “If the number of heroes increases then we will do a lucky draw so that they can be allowed as per the National Command and Operations Center’s (NCOC) Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs),” he said. He said there was a lot of work being done in Punjab for sports.
“We are working on 12 components of Kamyab Jawan Sports Drive which includes many other games besides cricket and we will bring every sports equal to the level of cricket as per the vision of the Prime Minister Imran Khan,” he said. “I’m also working with the Higher Education Commission (HEC) for skills scholarship and hopefully in every sector we will get good results through the Kamyab Jawan Programme,” he said.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Lahore Qalandars Atif Rana said Lahore Qalandar has initiated players’ development programme and conducted trails of 500,000 youth which would further enhanced to choose cricket stars from across the country. “Qalandars would set up high performance centres in 25 regions of the country including Islamabad to enhance the performance of sportsmen. Qalanders in collaboration with Kamyab Jawan Programe would also launch E-Sports,” he said.
