22 Pak players become PSA members in 2023

KARACHI: As many as 22 squash players from Pakistan have got membership of Professional Squash Association in 2023.

Last year, 26 players got registered with PSA which was the highest number of registration from Pakistani players since 2016. The players who got PSA membership in 2023 were Abdullah Nawaz, Amna Malik, Anas Ali, Fardeen Ali, Hashir Kifayat, Karamatullah Khan, Luiza Aftab, Meer Fayaz, Mufakhir Ali, M Ammad, M Anas, M Babar, Ibrahim Mohib, M Raza, M Shehzad Khan, Zaman Khan, Nabeel Ahmed, Nawab Shah, Sadam ul Haq, Sikandar Khan, Talha Zubair, and Zohaib Ali.

The numbers faced a dip in 2020 when the Covid-19 hit the world and only seven players from Pakistan were registered with PSA. Before the pandemic, 13 players became professional by getting PSA membership in 2019.

However, Pakistan Squash Federation has been flouting its own policy with regards to registration of players with PSA as it is not fully adhering to its policy of allowing only top 20 players from the national ranking for PSA membership.

PSF in its 43rd Executive Committee meeting held on July 31, 2018, decided to maintain the already approved policy of PSA membership of players falling within top 20 national ranking to be endorsed by PSF.

Some players tend to get visas of foreign countries for the sake of getting jobs and not playing squash. This loophole in the PSF policy has been letting players take PSA membership to play international events and staying in the foreign countries illegally in the hopes of getting citizenships.