Committee recommends action against athletics team manager

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) inquiry committee has recommended action against the athletics team’s manager while forwarding the matter to the Board for further probe after the Athletic Federation of Pakistan’s (AFP) official admitted the mistake that robbed leading athletes of participation in the 11th Asian Indoor Championship.

Following reports emerging from Tehran that two leading athletes Shajar Abbas and Jaffar Ashraf were denied entry into their respective competition of the 11” Asian Indoor Athletics Championship, the PSB constituted an inquiry committee. The given mandate to the Committee was to summon the AFP officials, enquire about the whole incident and recommend the penalty in case the AFP officials could not come up with a satisfactory answer.

The News has learnt that the concerned AFP official appeared before the committee and admitted mishandling. “The AFP official who appeared before the committee has accepted that the non-participation of athletes was the result of their lack of knowledge. The Committee recommended stern action against the team manager and at the same time the matter has been referred to the PSB Board for further action against the federation or any other official they deemed necessary,” a PSB official said.

The criteria and general laid down rules clearly say that the management or officials accompanying the team will have to confirm entries of players almost a day before their respective competition. In the case of two Pakistan athletes no prior confirmation was registered, thus leaving them high and dry when it came to their participation in the event on the day when they were scheduled to compete.

The News has also learnt that all these recommendations were forwarded to the President of the PSB Board. The questions put forward to AFP for reply includes:

i) What were the specific reasons for the non-participation of players despite their presence in Iran?

ii) Who was responsible for ensuring the entry of players into the competition?

iii) Was there a designated manager or official tasked with coordinating the participation of athletes in the event?

v) What measures were in place to ensure proper coordination and oversight of the athletes’ participation?

vi) Has any formal code of conduct been formulated and implemented outlining the expected behavior and responsibilities of players and officials?

It is believed that not a single reply from the AFP official who appeared before the Committee was satisfactory, leaving the three-member committee to recommend action against concerned officials and to forward the matter to the PSB Board for further action.