WSF’s request for bone scans irks PSF

Ages of players who won the World Junior Team title questioned

KARACHI: The Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) has expressed its unhappiness over the World Squash Federation’s (WSF) actions after the sport’s governing body asked for the bone scans of the Pakistan team which recently won the World Junior Team title.

Pakistan ended Egypt’s dominance in the sport when they defeated the defending champions in Poland a few weeks ago. While the win was cause for celebration for Pakistan, who reclaimed the title after eight years, it did not come without some controversy.

A few teams including Malaysia, India and Egypt had raised question marks over the ages of Pakistani players, accusing them to be over-age and while the WSF had cleared Pakistan to play in the tournament and even sent congratulatory messages on the triumph, they have now raised the issue once again and have asked for bone scans for the entire team.



The latest development has not gone down well with the players and the officials, who are accusing the WSF of discrimination.

“It’s unacceptable that the WSF cleared our players when the reservations initially surfaced during the tournament and now that we’ve won the title, they are raising the issue unnecessarily,” a PSF official told The Express Tribune.

“This is not the way to treat a team which has just won the title. One must appreciate the efforts instead of finding some negatives on the basis of some media reports. There is a feeling of open discrimination against Pakistan in this particular case because all the players have genuine documents.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 31^st, 2016.

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