Asif, Babar await suo motu notice by CJP

KARACHI: Awaiting suo motu action from the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Muhammad Asif and Babar Masih have returned to their respective home cities after being deprived of the opportunity of representing the country and defending their title in the IBSF World 6-Red and Teams Snooker Championships 2018 being staged in Egypt.

Asif and Babar who had earlier this week reached Karachi to collect their passports and tickets for flying out to Egypt were ordered to go home instead by the officials of the Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA) who wanted them to sign the central contract for 2019 then and there.

Contending that their present contract was valid up to the end of the year, Asif and Babar, who won the World Team Championship last year, chose not to sign the next year’s contract. Consequently the PBSA cancelled their tickets for Cairo without taking into account the fact that the extreme action had seriously dented Pakistan’s chances of retaining the trophy.

After getting the marching orders from the PBSA, Asif and Babar chose to stop over in Lahore where the Punjab Cup was being held. There they were joined by many other cueists who also felt provoked at the treatment meted out to the top two performers of the country.

The episode also resulted in the indefinite postponement of the final stage of the Punjab Cup which was scheduled to conclude on Sunday (tomorrow). Asif and Babar, alongside Muhammad Sajjad, another former national champion, held a media briefing in Lahore on Thursday in which they presented their case, expressing disgust with the attitude and the policies of the association.

They appealed to the Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar and Prime Minister Imran Khan to hold an enquiry into the matter.“We are awaiting suo motu notice from the Chief Justice, who has been so proactive in resolving problems being faced by the nation,” Asif observed while talking to ‘The News’ from Faisalabad on Friday.

Meanwhile, the PBSA held a meeting of its Executive Committee here at the Karachi Club on Friday but, for reasons beyond comprehension, decided to make the details public through a press release on Monday.

PBSA president Munawwar Hussain Shaikh declined to make any comments about the meeting. “Yes, our meeting has been held and we discussed the issues in details. We have decided not to disclose anything about it at the moment but we will issue a press release on Monday,” the PBSA president informed ‘The News’ in a brief conversation.

The other board members of the PBSA, including chairman Ali Asghar Valika were also unwilling to talk about the issue.