Senate committee on sports recommends to govt to fix age limit

Lahore: The Senate standing committee on sports has recommended to the government to fix an age-limit

of 60 to 65 years for persons appointed or elected to head national sports federations in Pakistan. In an apparent reference to the 74-year old Ijaz Butt, who heads the Pakistan Cricket Board, the Senate body that met at the PCB national academy here today, said that since under government service rules the retirement age varied from 60 to 65 years, similarly no one after this age should be allowed to head a national sports body. The Senate committee adjourned its meeting till August 26 on the request of Ejaz Butt, who is presently in Dubai. "The PCB Chairman requested us to adjourn the meeting till August 26th. Some important issues were discussed today with other PCB officials who attended the hearing," Chairman of the committee, Ghaffar Qureshi said. Qureshi said that the PCB has done a good job by sending the report of the attack on the Sri Lankan team last year in Lahore to the ICC but the Senate committee wants to discuss the report with Butt. "We feel that in light of this report the board and other sports bodies should in future make security arrangements for international events so that such incidents don`t happen again," he said. Senator Tahir Mashadi said that Butt would have to attend the hearing of the Senate privileges motion committee that he heads to answer to charges that he maligned and tried to discredit some members of the Senate sports committee. "That meeting will be held as per schedule on the 19th and Butt has to respond to the charges or face the consequences," Mashadi said. Senator Jahangir Badr, who is a member of the sports committee, stated that the entire committee in its meeting supported Ijaz Butt in the action he had taken after former ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed called him a "buffon". "The entire committee is behind Butt in this matter because Speed has no right to interfere or comment on our internal affairs," Badr said. "PCB must ensure he offers an apology for his remarks." PTI