Pakistan national games axed due to security concerns

Karachi, March 17 (IANS) Pakistan's sports authorities Tuesday called off this year's National Games to be held in Peshawar because of a spate of bombings in various parts of the country.

Lt Gen (retd) Arif Hasan, president of the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA), told reporters in Lahore that the Games cannot take place as scheduled because of security concerns.

"(Foreign) teams are not willing to come to Pakistan because of security issues. We don't want a situation where a domestic event is also affected by some incident," Hasan said.

"We took the prevailing situation in the country into consideration and felt the best thing at this stage was to postpone the Games.

"There was also pressure from parents and associations to postpone the Games. Obviously, nothing is more important to us than the safety of our athletes and officials."

Sports in Pakistan have been hit hard by the security situation.

The International Tennis Federation Tuesday decided to relocate Pakistan's Davis Cup Group II semi-final against New Zealand because of security fears. The tie was supposed to be held in Lahore in July, but will now be held in New Zealand.

Pakistan has become a no-travel zone for foreign sports team following the terror attack on Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore.