WSF’s 50th annual general meeting starts

ISLAMABAD: The World Squash Federation’s 50th annual general meeting started Tuesday with representatives of around 110 countries in attendance.

The participants of the virtual meeting will discuss challenges being faced by squash in special context with the Covid-19 pandemic and implementation of the World Anti-Doping Agency rules.

PSF’s Senior Vice President Air Marshal Aamir Masood is representing Pakistan in the meeting.

“The first of three sessions of the AGM was held on Tuesday while the second and third sessions are scheduled for November 19 and December 5,” a PSF official said.

He said Pakistan has asked to be hosts of the 51st AGM in 2021.

The second news of Pakistan’s interest is the PSF’s resolve to host major international events in the next two years. “This also includes the World Junior Championship in 2022 besides another world event in the near future. Now when Pakistan has been declared a safe country to travel and host international sporting events, our efforts will be to organise maximum tournaments,” the PSF official said.

“Pakistan will also try to make their point with the Professional Squash Association and WSF to compensate Pakistan as far as staging tournaments are concerned,” he added.

“We have missed a lot of years in this regard. Now we want to regularise tournaments which we used to host in the 1990s and early 2000s. Pakistan deserves big time support and we hope to get that from WSF and PSA.

“There have been misconceptions regarding Pakistan, especially when it comes to hosting major sports events. By inviting representatives from all over the world, we will be able to press our genuine right of hosting major squash tournaments. There is also a need to assert our position as a nation,” he said.

The members, it is believed, will be updated on the new WADA rules and regulations.

The WSF’s 50th AGM was to be held in Monte Carlo (Monaco) but was made virtual because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Another important item on the meeting’s agenda is the four-yearly elections on key WSF posts.