‘Tennis players’ participation prevented by poor planning’

KARACHI: The poor planning of Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) and Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) prevented participation of two tennis players in Commonwealth Youth Games.

A small contingent of Pakistan, comprising a swimmer and three officials, left for Nassau, The Bahamas, via the United States, after tennis players and boxers were denied US transit visas.

A senior official of the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) said that boxers had been denied visas while tennis players’ visa had been delayed, which were denied later.

“POA and PTF have a few options in this regard but they opted for the most difficult one. This shows their ill planning,” said a source.

The source added that they applied for US transit visa at a time when the situation is not welcoming for Pakistanis. “They had to reach Bahamas and for that they could have easily used other options like China or Far East,” said the source.

But, the source added, they applied for US visa as they wanted to go to Bahamas via New York, which resulted in the denial of visas to Haris Irfan and Esha Jawad.

“They could have easily got the visas of China or some Far East country. This is beyond comprehension why they chose the most difficult option,” said the source.