Pakistan Olympic Association Finally Elects A New Chief After 19 Years

Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) elected a new chief on Sunday, 31 December 2023, as Captain (retired) Syed Abid Qadri was announced as the torchbearer post the 19-year era of Lt. Gen (R) Syed Arif Hasan.

The decision comes following the Executive Committee meeting where Hasan’s resignation was accepted, due to illness, and Qadri’s name was selected.

According to reports, Qadri will complete the remaining 10-month term of Hasan, and after the 2024 Paris Olympics, elections will be held which will decide the next POA administration.

Qadri has served as the President of Pakistan Handball Federation for 2 terms, and then became Patron-in-Chief due to sports policy limitations.

He has previously served as IG Police and DG FIA.

Captain (R) Syed Abid Qadri replaces Lt Gen (R) Syed Arif Hasan.

Abid Qadri was Pakistan Handball Federation President for 2 terms and then became Patron-in-Chief due to sports policy terms limits.

He has also served as IG Police and DG FIA. https://t.co/P6jrHogZPs pic.twitter.com/mz0TbGp7uo

— FootballPakistan.com (@FootballPak) December 31, 2023

POA’s ex-chief, Syed Arif Hasan, has always maintained that it was Pakistan Sports Board’s job to provide infrastructure and training facilities to athletes while POA was only a representative organization in International Olympic Committee (IOC) on behalf of Pakistani sports bodies.

Hasan has been criticized due to Pakistan not even coming close to winning a medal in the Olympics ever since he became the President in 2004.

Ex-minister, Ahsan Iqbal, posted a critical post on social media targeting Arif Hassan in the past.

Pakistan population 220m, Olympics players squad 10, officials 10.
No medal is in sight.
Lt Gen (R) Syed Arif Hasan President Pakistan Olympics Assoc for almost 20yrs.
What can be future of sports when constructing Nat’l Sports City Nwl for training future Olympians is a crime.

— Ahsan Iqbal (@betterpakistan) July 24, 2021