Adviser to Chief Minister Punjab on Sports and Youth Affairs Wahab Riaz inaugurates laying of modern FIH-approved synthetic turf at National Hockey Stadium
LAHORE (April 16, 2023): Adviser to Chief Minister Punjab on Sports and Youth Affairs Wahab Riaz inaugurated the laying of modern FIH-approved synthetic turf at the National Hockey Stadium on Sunday.
Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Shahid Zaman, Director General Sports Punjab Dr Asif Tufail, Director Youth Affairs Syed Umair Hassan, Director Sports Nadeem Qaiser, Project Director PMU Qaiser Raza, International Synthetic Turf expert Usman Afridi, Deputy Director Planning Rauf Bajwa and District Sports Officer Tanveer Shah were also present on this occasion.
Project Director PMU Qaiser Raza and Deputy Director Planning Rauf Bajwa briefed Adviser to CM Punjab on Sports and Youth Affairs Wahab Riaz about different features of modern synthetic turf.
Adviser to Chief Minister Punjab on Sports and Youth Affairs Wahab Riaz along with Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Shahid Zaman and Director General Sports Punjab Dr Asif Tufail inspected the laying procedure of modern synthetic turf.
Adviser to Chief Minister Punjab on Sports and Youth Affairs Wahab Riaz, Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Shahid Zaman and Director General Sports Punjab Dr Asif Tufail were given souvenirs from representative of International Synthetic Turf Company on this occasion.
Talking to media on this occasion, Adviser to CM Punjab on Sports and Youth Affairs Wahab Riaz said that laying of modern synthetic turf at world’s largest venue – National Hockey Stadium is a first major step towards true revival of hockey in the country. “After laying of modern synthetic turf at National Hockey Stadium, we are quite confident to bring back top international hockey teams to Pakistan”.
Adviser to CM Punjab on Sports and Youth Affairs Wahab Riaz said that an international hockey event will be organized at National Hockey Stadium after the approval of FIH. “The project of modern synthetic turf is completed with the cost of Rs 16 crore. The synthetic turf is an international level facility which will definitely help a lot in improving the game skills of our hockey players”.
Adviser to CM Punjab on Sports and Youth Affairs Wahab Riaz announced that a national level hockey tournament is being planned at National Hockey Stadium in which hockey teams from all over the country will participate. “National Hockey Stadium will be further upgraded with the collaboration of
private sector. Hockey is our national game and modern synthetic turf is a gift for young talented hockey players of the country,” he added.
Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Shahid Zaman on this occasion gave a suggestion to utilize the space under different bridges of the city for sports activities with the collaboration of International Synthetic Turf Company upon which the representative of International Synthetic Turf Company expressed his willingness to fully cooperate with Punjab Sports Department for this unique project.