By Our Correspondent
LAHORE (November 11, 2025): Provincial Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Malik Faisal Ayub Khokhar while chairing an important meeting of Punjab Sports Department at National Hockey Stadium on Tuesday made several key decisions regarding Annual Sports Calendar, Talent Hunt Program and Sports Endowment Fund.
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The provincial minister was given a detailed briefing on progress of the Talent Hunt Program. The meeting was convened to review the progress and other key features of Annual Sports Calendar, Talent Hunt Program and Sports Endowment Fund. The meeting also discussed an effective strategy for the promotion of sports and providing maximum opportunities for youth to excel in the field of sports.
The meeting was attended by Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Muzaffar Khan Sial, Director General Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Khizar Afzaal Chaudhry, Additional Secretary Sports Mian Usman Ali, Director Sports Rana Nadeem Anjum, Director Admin Abid Shaukat, Deputy Director Mirza Nadeem.
Addressing the meeting, Punjab Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Malik Faisal Ayub Khokhar has announced to start U-16 Talent Hunt Program from tehsil level, where over 26,000 young athletes from 150 tehsils across Punjab will participate. The program will include seven sports disciplines – Athletics, Badminton, Football, Hockey, Taekwondo, Volleyball, and Wrestling. The training camps will also be organised at division level after every three months to review the progress of this initiative.
Punjab Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Malik Faisal Ayub Khokhar said that fresh talented players will be prepared to play at national level by imparting them modern training. “The talented athletes will be scouted at inter-tehsil, district and division level under a systematic mechanism”.
Punjab Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Malik Faisal Ayub Khokhar further said that all possible facilities will be provided to emerging talented athletes. “The Annual Sports Calendar will also help a lot in bringing out new talent from the grassroots level,” he elaborated.
Highlighting other key features of Talent Hunt Program, Punjab Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Malik Faisal Ayub Khokhar said that fresh talent will be brought out from seven games in a year. “The talented players will also be included in Punjab Sports Endowment Fund so that they can emphasis fully on their top level training and participation in events without any trouble”.
Punjab Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Malik Faisal Ayub Khokhar said that equal opportunities are being provided to the youth to advance in sports. “Punjab is the only province where top performing players are being given monthly scholarships of Rs 70,000, Rs 50,000 and Rs 30,000”.
