Islamabad : As an outbreak of dengue tightens its grip over
Pakistan, especially over the eastern cultural city of Lahore, a number
of scheduled sports events in the country have become its latest
victims.
After a majority of the players evinced no interest in taking part
in the games due to the threat of dengue, a number of sports
competitions have been cancelled or postponed indefinitely.
According to latest figures till Tuesday Morning, the outbreak of
dengue has claimed over 60 lives and affected over 8,000 people across
the country since the first week of August, Xinhua reported.
The Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) Monday postponed to April
2012 the inter-provincial games scheduled for the next month in Quetta.
The Pakistani sports officials also ordered cancellation of all
water sports events, especially swimming competitions, and all the
water pools have been emptied to prevent the breeding of dengue
mosquito larvae.
The Pakistan swimming federation Monday cancelled its two scheduled
competitions for women in the country's southern port city of Karachi
after the provincial government announced a dengue threat in the city.
But the fate of the national T20 cricket tournament, which is
scheduled to begin Sep 25 in Lahore, the second largest city of
Pakistan, has now been cleared after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)
showed its firmness to hold the tournament on time despite the epidemic.
Some health experts and sports analysts, criticising the PCB
decision, wondered "Who will be responsible if any player gets infected
with the dengue virus".
"We can arrange such tournaments any other time but cannot restore lost lives," they said.
Several teams and players have also demanded that the venue for the
tournament be changed from Lahore or the schedule should be pushed back. IANS
