Squash player Yasir appeals against ban

Pakistan number three lashes out at federation’s former secretary.

KARACHI: Following Aamir Atlas’ lead, Pakistan number three Yasir Butt has appealed against the one-year ban imposed by the Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) for ‘underperforming’ at the World Team Championship that took place in Germany in August this year.

Butt, along with teammates Atlas and Waqar Mehboob, were sanctioned by the PSF last month after Pakistan crashed out in the tournament’s first round after losing to Austria, Malaysia and Denmark.

Butt revealed that he has submitted his appeal to the PSF and informed the body that former secretary Irfan Asghar misrepresented the events that took place in Germany.

“I’m appealing against the ban because the three of us were punished for someone else’s shortcomings,” Butt told The Express Tribune. “Asghar failed to guide us as coach and manager in the tournament. He never gave us any tips and later he misreported facts.

“He said that we did not give our 100 per cent, which is wrong. I won three out of my four matches. How can he say that I did not try my best?”

Butt felt that the PSF should have handed out punishment to all four players in the squad if it believed that the team had underperformed. He said that only the three seniors were targeted since they had spoken out against Asghar.

Meanwhile, according to the PSF Vice-President Qamar Zaman, the players have the right to appeal but a decision will depend on the arguments they present. He believed that banning the players was a harsh move but it will not be overturned after Asghar’s exit from the post of PSF secretary.

Asghar was replaced by Abdul Wahab Marwat after the former was banned by the World Squash Federation (WSF) for bringing the game into ‘disrepute’. Asghar had levelled allegations at the WSF’s president.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 24^th, 2011.