KARACHI: Pakistan Sports Board has initiated the Long Term Athlete Development Programme (LTADP) for top athletes across ten Olympic sports.
The program has been initiated in line with the directives of the Prime Minister for the establishment of the Arshad Nadeem High-Performance Academy. In this regard, Assistant Director NF M Waqar Ahmed has written a letter to the Chairman Interim Committee of Pakistan Weightlifting Federation and informed him about the procedure.
“Your federation has already submitted the names and profiles of some potential athletes to the PSB. However, to ensure transparency, PSB has decided that the federation should publish the names of the nominated athletes on its websites and invite objections, if any, from the public or stakeholders,” stated the letter.
It is to be noted that the Interim Committee has nominated Haider Sultan, M Ali, Junaid Butt, Furqan Ahmed, Daniyal Aftab, and Nooh Dastgir Butt for the said academy. PSB also shared the criterion for different weight categories with the interim committee. For Lightweight (up to 69 Kg) the athletes must have achieved a podium finish in the National Weightlifting Championship, must have met the IWF qualification standards for international competitions, and must have represented Pakistan in at least one international weightlifting event.
For the Middle weight (69-85 Kg), the athletes must have achieved a top-3 finish in the National Weightlifting Championship, must have participated in at least one international event, and must be ranked within the top-3 in the national ranking.
For heavyweight (Over 85 kg), the athletes must be ranked within the top-2 in the national ranking, must have won a gold or silver medal in the National Weightlifting Championship, and must have participated in at least one international event.