South Africa’s Terseus to accompany Arshad in World Athletics

KARACHI: Athletics Federation of Pakistan (AFP) on Monday confirmed that South African coach Terseus Liebenberg will accompany the country’s premier javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem during the World Athletics Championship slated to be held in Oregon, USA, from July 15-24.

“Yes, we have made his accreditation card through World Athletics for the World Championship and he will definitely go with Arshad to the United States,” a senior official of the AFP told ‘The News’.

Arshad and Pakistan’s No 2 javelin thrower Muhammad Yasir are in South Africa these days, training under Liebenberg at the North West University Campus in Potchefstroom, a city 120 kilometres from Johannesburg.

Both are expected to return home on May 9 or 10 as Arshad will have to get US visa and will also have to secure a new South Africa visa as the visas of both the athletes will expire this month.

AFP also wants Liebenberg to accompany Pakistan’s squad during the Commonwealth Games slated to be held in Birmingham from July 28 to August 8.

A senior official of Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) told ‘The News’ that the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) has written to the NOC to ensure that the South African coach accompanies the national athletics squad during the Commonwealth Games.

“Yes, we have been requested by the PSB to do that. The accreditation process has already been closed but we will write to the organising committee of the Commonwealth Games after Eid that we want to replace the existing official of the athletics squad with the South African coach. There are various issues, including that of visa, but we will make our best effort in this connection,” the official said.

The PSB has already released a hefty amount of Rs50 million for training of Arshad and Yasir on foreign soil. Two male and two female athletes will represent Pakistan in the Commonwealth Games.

Meanwhile, AFP plans to finalise the squad for the 2nd Imam Reza Cup which will be held in Mashhad, Iran, from May 29 to 30. “Immediately after Eid, our selection committee will meet to finalise our six-member squad for the Iran event,” the AFP official said.

“We held open trials last week at Punjab Stadium, Lahore, which were attended by athletes in large numbers. We have got some good talent in sprint, high jump, discuss throw and some other events and we will finalise from that pool the squad for the Iran tour. We will pick athletes from the same pool for other international events, including Asian Games,” the official said.

The AFP official said that during the AFP meeting in the next two or three days, it will also be discussed whether Arshad should be sent to Iran to test where he stands now. Arshad will return to South Africa after getting his new South Africa visa and the US visa as he will continue to train there until the World Championship which is his first target since he finished fifth in the last year’s Tokyo Olympics.

Arshad will go to the US from South Africa. The AFP official said that he is in contact with Arshad and the javelin thrower is happy with his training. “Yes, he is happy and is making progress,” the official said. “He is in good shape and his elbow issue has also been treated well,” the official said.

Arshad is a big medal hope for Pakistan in the World Championship, the Commonwealth Games, the Islamic Games and the Asian Games. This will be the second time that he will be featuring in the global event since he took part in the Doha edition a few years ago. Arshad will be seeking his first medal in the World Championship and Commonwealth Games. He won bronze in the previous Islamic Games and the Asian Games.