Ben French visits Sports Board Punjab offices and National Hockey Stadium

Lahore: The head of UK Department of International Development (DFID) Mr Ben French,visited Sports Board Punjab (SBP) offices and National Hockey Stadium to observe sports infrastructure and other facilities here on Wednesday.

Mr French, along with Director General Sports Punjab Usman Anwar and Legal Advisor to Chief Minister Punjab Ail Raza, visited control room, Radio Shaheen, social media department and other parts of National Hockey Stadium.

DG SBP Usman Anwar briefed the honourable guest about the record breaking Punjab Youth Festival, dozens of Guinness World Records, International Sports Festival, Punjab Youth Festival 2015 and other notable achievements of Punjab youth.

Later, talking to media, the British representative expressed his satisfaction on the sports structure and facilities being provided to sportsmen in Pakistan. “During my stay in Pakistan I found everything smooth and fine. Pakistan has excellent sports infrastructure,” he added.

To a query about the Pakistan’s impression being portrayed abroad, Mr French was of the view that Pakistan was a peaceful country. “Some quarters are presenting wrong impression about Pakistan. I observed nothing dangerous here,” he stressed.

Director General Sports Punjab Usman Anwar, while talking about the visit of Mr Ben French, said that Mr French’s visit was a part of Punjab govt’s policy of extending partnerships with different countries and sports organizations to raise the level of Pakistan sports at par with international standard. “It’s not the first occasion; SBP had also signed MoUs and various partnerships with several sports organizations for the speedy growth of sports in Pakistan. We will continue this practice in future as well,” he asserted.

Mr French and Director General Sports Punjab Usman Anwar also watched exhibition hockey match between Punjab Green and Punjab White at National Hockey Stadium and taekwondo activity at Nishtar Park Sports Complex Gymnasium Hall. After watching hockey and taekwondo matches, Mr French also appreciated wonderful sporting talent in Pakistan.

In the exhibition hockey match, Punjab Green defeated Punjab White by 1-0 while Laraib Mannan, Shumaila Nazeer, Mahnoor Hamid, Samra Sultana, Noor Asfia, Shamsa Khadim, Laila Suman and Hina Ashiq emerged winners in girls’ taekwondo competition.