AFP waiting for flights resumption to send Arshad to Kazakhstan

KARACHI: Athletics Federation of Pakistan (AFP) is desperately waiting for resumption of flights to Kazakhstan so that the country’s premier javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem could be sent there for training.

“Everything has been confirmed regarding Arshad’s training and we are only waiting for resumption of flights to Kazakhstan,” AFP president Maj Gen (retd) Akram Sahi told ‘The News’ on Wednesday.

The AFP has made training arrangements for Arshad in Kazakhstan. He will stay there until Olympics to be held in Tokyo in July and August 2021.

Arshad managed a throw of 86.29 metre during the 13th South Asian Games in Nepal last year to become the first ever Pakistani athlete to directly qualify for the world’s most prestigious extravaganza in athletics.

Sahi said that a camp for Arshad at Lahore would soon be confirmed. “I have already talked to the Punjab Sports Minister and we will inshaAllah soon be able to confirm the camp for Arshad at Lahore,” said Sahi, also a former international athlete.

“I am confident we will manage it in ten days,” Sahi was quick to add.

Arshad has been in his hometown Mian Channu since March when the country went into lockdown due to Covid-19 pandemic. Before that he had been sent to China for a couple of months training along with four other athletes but the tour was cut short due to outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan.