Pakistan Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Monday ordered an inquiry into the embarrassing scuffle that saw a top Pakistani sports official snatch the national flag from a sportsperson designated as flagbearer at the Comm-onwealth Games opening ceremony on Sunday night.
A statement said Mr Gilani had taken “serious notice of the unpleasant incident” involving the Pakistani contingent, and asked sports minister Ijaz Jakhrani to “inquire into the incident and submit a report to him urgently”. The PM promised action will “be taken against any official (or) individual found responsible for the unpleasant incident”.
The Pakistani weightlifting team threatened to pull out of the Games after a showdown between weightlifter Shujauddin Malik and contingent leader Muhammad Ali Shah, Sindh’s sports minister, over carrying the Pakistani flag.
Weightlifting coach Sheikh Rashid said Malik, a gold medallist at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games, was to carry the flag and lead the Pakistani contingent, but Mr Shah announced at the last moment that he would carry the flag. The weightlifting team members took this as an insult. —PTI