Pakistan to field same weightlifters in CWG, Islamic Games
KARACHI: Due to the recent doping scandal and shortage of time, Pakistan Weightlifting Federation (PWLF) has decided to field the same three-member squad in both the Commonwealth Games and Islamic Games.
“Yes, we don’t have time at our disposal. Most probably the three weightlifters who feature in the Commonwealth Games will also appear in the Islamic Games,” a PWLF official told ‘The News’ on Thursday.
“The issue is that it is not possible to add to the three-member squad for the Islamic Games as it takes time to conduct dope tests and then finalise the squad; we have no time for these matters,” the official said.
Nooh Dastgir Butt (+109 kg), Hanzala Dastgir Butt (109 kg) and Haider Ali (81 kg) will feature in both back-to-back events.
These weightlifters are training on their own as Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) is no longer backing weightlifting camp after the emergence of doping scandal.
However, a source said that it is likely that the PSB will start backing these three weightlifters soon.
The Commonwealth Games will be held in Birmingham from July 28 to August 8. The Islamic Games will be hosted by Turkey in Konya from August 9-18.
This correspondent has also learnt from sources that PWLF does not want to field low quality weightlifters in the Islamic Games after its six key weightlifters fell in doping quagmire.
These days six Pakistani weightlifters are serving suspension for doping reasons.
International Testing Agency (ITA) is taking its time to investigate the matter. Till the final decision these six weightlifters cannot feature in any event, neither at the national level nor at the international level.
In April this year, ITA charged the country’s premier weightlifter Talha Talib and Abu Bakar Ghani under Article 2.1 of the International Weightlifting Federation’s (IWF) Anti-Doping Rules (presence of prohibited substance or its metabolites or markers).
Sharjeel Butt, Abdur Rehman, Ghulam Mustafa and Farhan Amjad were charged under Article 2.3 of the IWF Anti-Doping Rules (evading, refusing or failing to submit to sample collection).
Initially, PWLF had decided to field six weightlifters in the Commonwealth Games who had qualified for the quadrennial event but from that squad Talha, Abu Bakar Ghani and Sharjeel were dropped because of the suspension.
The PWLF official said that the three weightlifters who will feature in these twin events will also undergo dope tests before leaving for Birmingham.
“Yes, they will be tested. The whole Pakistan contingent will be tested before leaving for Birmingham,” the official said.
In the absence of Talha, all eyes will be on heavyweight weightlifter Nooh who has the ability to click in both these events. Nooh clinched bronze in the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
The PWLF official said that the federation has no idea about the correspondence which the ITA has been doing with the suspended weightlifters. “We had been informed about the suspension of the six weightlifters but we don’t know what is going on between ITA and the suspended weightlifters as that correspondence is kept secret as per regulations,” the official said.
