The celebrated former Davis Cupper and national champion, Hameed-ul-Haq, who is also a President's Pride of Performance winner is being pressurized, according to him, for exposing the shortcomings of the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) in healthy spirit of effecting the desired improvements.
Sometime back, the tennis champion had pointed out the flawed planning and management along with few irregularities in the conduct of sports affairs purely in the national interest. But instead of taking corrective measures, the PTF started issuing explanations and show-cause notices to muzzle his voice.
In a letter to Hameed-ul-Haq, the PTF has expressed its reservations on the champion's criticism of the tennis body, and blamed him for furthering personal interests through the media. The PTF also blamed that the champion is violating the code of conduct and constitution of the sports body. The PTF said that it has always invited him (Hameed) for inputs and suggestions, and his diatribe is, thus, unwarranted.
Hameed-ul-Haq, however, in a rejoinder while refuting the allegations termed them as unfounded and with mala fide intent. He said that the PTF is making no serious effort towards new talent development, and the national representation is now being sustained by aging players. "The decline is visible across all categories of men's, women's and junior teams that have delivered poor performance in recent years", he reminded the PTF.
The Davis cup player from 1984-1997, and winner of Presidential Award of Pride of Performance in 1999, called for transparency and democratic values within the tennis institution. Hameed offered an olive branch to the PTF by seeking its cooperation in addressing the problems of tennis, in order to revive the glory of the sport once again in Pakistan.
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