Using squash to settle abroad illegally

KARACHI: Peshawar which produced great squash players is still the hub of the game but the aim of the players has now changed: the game is now being taken up as a way to go abroad and settle there illegally.
Recently, four squash players went to Australia after getting visas to play squash there but they stayed there illegally and never came back.
Similarly, two players from Peshawar went missing in Japan in recent past.
Milo’s sport organisers launched an official complaint with Pakistan Squash Federation’s (PSF) former secretary Abdul Wahab Marwat that five junior players from Pakistan entered their names in the event by using Marwat’s forged signatures.
A case of getting entry on forged signatures was nabbed by the current PSF secretary Amir Nawaz when a player entered his name in an event in Kuwait by using the forged signatures of Pakistan Sports Board’s Director of Peshawar Centre Mohibullah Junior.
In 2012, New Zealand authorities virtually put a ban on issuing visas to Pakistani players because one Adnan Khan stayed there illegally after taking part in a squash event as a coach.
This scribe reported at that time that SquashGym in Palmerston North, New Zealand, hosted a $5000 Manawatu Classic event from July 26-29, 2012, in which two Pakistani squash players, Suleman Khan and Naseem Khan, participated, accompanied by Suleman’s brother Adnan, who acted as their manager and coach.
Adnan did not return and stayed in New Zealand illegally. The immigration authorities told their squash authorities that Adnan had not left New Zealand.
New Zealand’s immigration authorities were reluctant to issue visas to Suleman, Adnan, and Naseem as they did not have much travel history but the tournament organiser Grant Smith gave his personal guarantee to the embassy in Dubai for these players to get visas.
Adnan’s illegal stay there forced the embassy to tighten their visa rules for Pakistani players to the extent of complete denial.
This was the reason New Zealand did not issue visa to Tahir, brother and coach of Pakistan’s top-ranked player Nasir Iqbal for the next edition of the same event.
One Asif Khan from Peshawar got Canadian visa through fake email of Pakistan’s former squash player Qamar Zaman.
“He was among a group of local players here in Peshawar who created a fake email in my name and wrote to different squash associations of the world saying I want to send these players for training,” Qamar told ‘The News’ at that time.
“My son Mansoor Zaman was told by an official of Denmark Squash Association during a tour that he was sending visas to a group of players in Peshawar who were recommended by me. “He (Mansoor) saw the emails and told the official that I don’t use the account he has received emails from,” he added.
Qamar said the development shocked him and he consulted with Federal Investigation Agency. “Later I withdrew this case on humanitarian grounds. But this has been a practice in Pakistan for quite some time. People get the membership of Professionals Squash Association (PSA) for around 400 pounds, get visas and then never come back,” said Qamar.
“I wrote to a director of PSA stating they have made PSA a shop. A big number of people have gone to foreign countries on the basis of this PSA membership because they easily got visas on their letter. This has become a big business here,” he added.
An official of a provincial squash association said that a large number of boys in Peshawar were playing squash just to seek settlement in foreign countries because of good money-making opportunities there. “PSF should play its role and must not recommend every Tom, Dick and Harry for PSA membership,” he added.
“You can see a bunch of entries of such players from Pakistan in the events held in Europe and the US, but not in the events held in Malaysia and other Asian countries,” said the official.
PSF secretary Amir Nawaz said this was the domain of FIA and PSF could not do anything substantial in this regard. “We have launched an inquiry to find out who stayed illegally in Australia. We have also tightened the criterion of PSA membership for our players,” he added.
Amir said they wrote to FIA whenever such cases happened. “We have found a few such cases and will soon write to FIA to investigate them. This trend is bringing bad name to Pakistan and squash,” admitted Amir.