Legends Arena to help unearth and groom new talent, POA President Lt. Gen Arif Hassan.
Lahore: The President of Pakistan Olympic Association Lt. Gen. (Retd) Syed Arif Hasan has said that the future of Pakistan in sports is very bright, the majority of the country consists of youth. The young players can further hone their skills by availing of the world-class sporting facilities at the Legends Arena in Karachi.
He expressed these views on the occasion of a meeting with former squash world champion legendary Jahangir Khan and former hockey captain Olympian Islahuddin Siddiqui at the Olympic House Lahore. Secretary General Muhammad Khalid Mehmood, Special Olympics Pakistan Chairperson Ronak Lakhani and Media Advisor Asif Azeem were also present on this occasion.
POA President Syed Arif Hasan said that Jahangir Khan and Islahuddin are such bright stars of Pakistan who have won great honours and are big sports names famous all over the world with their wonderful performances, he said, adding, that sports academies play a prominent and key role in nurturing players involved in any sport.
I hope that Karachi’s Legends Arena will help in discovering new talent and grooming players for international-level competitions. It will be very helpful and in the future, its scope will be made possible in other cities of the country as well.
Jahangir Khan said that there is immense sports talent in the country, but it does not have facilities according to modern requirements, keeping in mind that Legends Arena was established where Shahid Afridi Cricket Academy, where the facilities of tennis, taekwondo, gymnastics, paddle tennis and fitness club are available according to the world standards.
Olympian Islahuddin said that sports play an important role in the character-building and personality development of a person. To protect the youth from negative activities, attracting them to sports is the most important need of the hour, for which we all have to play our practical role on this occasion, Islahuddin added.
Later, Jahangir Khan presented a souvenir of Legends Arena to the POA President Lt. Gen Arif Hasan.