Bodybuilding elections today

LAHORE, July 23: The elections of the Pakistan Bodybuilding Federation (PBF) are being held in Islamabad on Saturday on the requisition signed by a majority of the general council members, which shows no confidence on the existing president, Col (retd) Mohammad Yahya.

There are reports that Naveed Akram Cheema, head of the Wapda Sports Control Board and a member of the Pakistan Cricket Board Governing Board, is the candidate for the post while Sheikh Farooq will continue as secretary of the PBF.

In fact, Yahya, once a close ally of Pakistan Olympic Association president Gen Arif Hasan (retd) has now no cordial relations with him and he is mentally prepared not to contest the elections. It has become very hard for anyone to be elected as president or secretary of any federation without the nod of the POA.

It may be mentioned here that Col Yahya had been elected as president some four years back in a controversial way. Two warring groups of the federation moved to the POA, requesting it to hold the elections to elect the genuine body. But instead of conducting the elections, Col Yahya with the support of the POA’s mafia got himself installed as president despite the fact that all the provincial bodybuilding associations staged a boycott and left the venue of the meeting.

But as Yahya was then close to the POA president his body was recognised.