Never-ending Narowal Sports City Project as it Stands Now

The National Sports City, Narowal, will be completed during the current year, a claim being
heard for umpteenth time as the authorities had made many such claims during the last many
years when the project was going to be completed.

Introduction:
The NSC project was launched in 2009 when the PPP was in power in the central government
and the PML-N was in opposition. Ahsan Iqbal, who was an MNA, made efforts and got this
project approved in his constituency from the then Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani
Under the project, 14 stadiums of different sports are being constructed and it includes a
gymnasium, squash court, swimming pool, cricket, football and hockey grounds, basketball,
tennis and badminton courts and facilities and stadiums for other games.

Fig 1: Main Gate of National sport city complex

When construction started:

The construction was started in 2009 on the Rs2.9bn project on the Narowal-Muridke Road on
a 46 acre piece of land. The authorities have been giving various timeframes for its completion.
Claims about completion of the project were made in the year 2016, 2017 and now the
authorities concerned made another claim that it would be completed until Dec 31, 2018.
Different construction companies remained involved in the completion of the project, including
M/s Progressive International, Jan Alam and Co, NLC and M/s Muhammad Ahmad Private,
Limited. The NSC project was delayed reportedly due to unavailability of funds but when Ahsan
Iqbal became the federal minister for planning and development in 2013, the construction
restarted.
According to some media reports, the NSC dominated the federal sports budget for three years
in a row, i.e. 2015, 2016 and 2017. In annual federal budget of 2017, Ahsan Iqbal managed to
get Rs500m allocated for the project. In 2016, 70pc of the sports development budget (Rs450m
out of Rs630m) for the fiscal year also went to Narowal due to the NSC.

Inaguration Ceremony of NSC:

Interestingly, President Mamnoon Hussain(Late) and Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal has already
inaugurated the project on April 30 when it was far from completion. A friendly cricket match
between President XI and PCB XI was also played on the occasion.

Fig 1.1: Inaguration Ceremony of NSC

 Fig 1.3: Match between PCB XI and President XI

Feartures of NSC:
• Cricket Stadium with seating 10300 capacity
• Football Stadium with Athletic Track with seating capacity 5200 spectators
• Hockey Stadium with Synthetic Hockey Turf and seating 5500 capacity

• Squash Courts (03 Nos)

• Volleyball Court
• Tennis Courts (02 Nos)
• Gymnasium with seating 750 capacity

• Basketball Court
• Kabbadi Ground
• Swimming Pool (Covered 25 M x 50 M)
• Mosque with 460 Person capacity
• Players Residences / Dorms & Mess
 • Admin Office & Guest House
• Public Toilets
• Restaurant

• Entrance Gate & Boundary Wall

• Clock Tower
• Fountain
• Pavement & Footpath

• Approach Road
• Portable Water Sources development and Overhead Water Reservoir
• Sewerage Disposal System
• Landscaping

How many pc NSC completed:

According to the information about the completion of the project given to the media in the
meeting, gymnasium and squash courts are 99pc complete, 80pc work has been done on
swimming pool, 94pc on cricket and football stadium, 98pc on hockey, basketball and tennis
courts while 98pc of the construction on administration block, external department, mosque,
clock tower and restaurants for players is complete. However, only 53pc work has been done
on the block II for accommodation of players and the authorities referred to legal matters for
being the reason for the delay.

Model of National sport city complex Nwl:

Present condition of NSC:

NAB case related to corruption in NSC:

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) launched a probe into the complaint against
corruption in the project. NAB, in a statement, said it had received a complaint that the
Narowal Sports City was constructed at a cost of approximately Rs6bn which was a violation of
rules.

Comments of Ahsan Iqbal about Corruption in NSC:

Talking about the NSC, Ahsan claimed that after its completion, the players of not only Narowal
and Gujranwala but from all over the country would avail its sports facilities. He claimed that
the total cost of the project was Rs2.9bn while Rs2.5bn have so far been spent on it. He
rejected the allegations that Rs6bn were embezzled in the project. Talking about the corruption
allegations and the NAB probe, Mr Iqbal said that if any government servant or contractor had
been involved in any irregularity he should be arrested.
Future Plans:
In future, not only the Players of Narowal and Gujranwala but from all over the country would avail its
sports facilities. Also, PSL matches was played in National sports city complex Narowal. Due to NAB case,
the construction of National sports city complex Narowal is not completed.