Daily Times

Prime Minister Imran Khan will inaugurate the 33rd edition of the National Games on October 21, 2019 while President of Pakistan Arif Alvi will grace the occasion as chief guest at the closing ceremony on October 27, Minister for Sports Atif Khan said at a press conference here Tuesday. Also present on the occasion were Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) President Lt Gen (r) Syed Arif Hassan, POA Secretary General Khalid Mehmood, Secretary Sports KP Kamran Rehman, MD Tourism Corporation KP Junaid Khan and DG Sports Asfandiyar Khan.

Atif said that the Government of KP, Pakistan Olympic Association, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Olympic Association and KP Directorate of Sports were on one page for the smooth conduct of the most awaited 33rd National Games in Peshawar. He said a total of 12000 athletes from 12 different units including Pakistan Army, Pakistan Air Force, Pakistan Navy, Punjab, Pakistan Police, Sindh, Balochistan, Wapda, Railways, HEC, Gilgit-Baltistan, Islamabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and hosts Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would take part in the national event.

“The Games will cost Rs.170 million and certainly it will portray a soft image of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. We are peace loving and believe in peace and through National Games we want to give a message of peace to the rest of the world,” Atif Khan added. He said for the smooth sailing of the National Games different committees would be constituted and it would be ensured that the players would be provided international standard facilities at all venues. Speaking on the occasion, POA chief Arif Hassan disclosed that talks with the Afghanistan Olympic Association, Olympic Associations of Sri Lanka, China, Bangladesh and India are being held for their participation in the forthcoming National Games and hopefully positive results would come up. Arif Hasan said that the POA had assured the Government of Balochistan for holding the 34th National Games in Quetta next year. It is pertinent to mention that KP Olympic Association has a previous experience of holding the National Games for six times: 1958, 1974, 1982, 1990, 1998 and 2010.