Female skiers irked by event cancellation

Female skiers will have to wait for an entire year after the skiing federation’s decision to cancel championship.

KARACHI: Pakistan’s female skiers have expressed their disappointment over the Skiing Federation of Pakistan’s (SFP) decision to cancel the Sadia Khan Ski Championship due to the extreme weather conditions in Naltar.

However, the federation has decided to hold the Shah Khan National Ski Championship for men from Friday at the same venue.

According to the SPF Secretary Air Commodore Mussarat Ali, the national women and children championship was scheduled to start from February 7 but was rescheduled for February 12.

However, the federation cancelled the tournament as it could not send the 65 participants, including 14 female skiers, to Naltar in time due to the road-block at the Karakoram Highway.

“I am extremely upset,” Ifra Wali, the South Asian Winter Games medallist told The Express Tribune. “First the season started late and now the cancelation of the women’s championship. It’s not fair. I exercise throughout the year just to ski around this time, but I fail to understand why the SPF didn’t fly us to Naltar this time.”

Ifra feels that the SFP’s decision to carry on with the men’s event is unfair since both the men and women tournaments take place at the same venue.

Similarly, Ifra’s sister Amina Wali thinks that the tournament for women could have taken place with the men’s championship.

Fatima Sohail, another South Asian Winter Games participant, feels that the SPF is wasting the effort and training of several skiers who would now have to wait for an entire year.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 9^th, 2011.