Squash: Atlas, Butt eligible for Pakistan again

Squash federation overturns bans on duo.

KARACHI: The Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) has lifted the bans on the country’s top-ranked player Amir Atlas as well as Yasir Butt after the pair admitted their mistakes and apologised to the officials.

The two players were handed bans on charges of deliberate under-performance at the World Team Championship in Germany last August. Atlas received a two-year ban while Butt was handed a year-long suspension.

The u-turn was made at the PSF executive committee meeting in Islamabad yesterday.

“Atlas and Yasir forwarded emails to the PSF apologising for their under-performance,” read a PSF media release issued following the meeting which was headed by PSF Senior Vice-President Syed Razi Nawab. “Both players accepted their mistakes and promised not to repeat such an attitude in the future. After detailed deliberations and assurance by the players, their apologies were accepted.”

Amir was hoping to take part in the British Open event but was forced to miss out due to illness.

Sindh, Punjab federations escape punishment

Meanwhile, the Sindh and Punjab federations, which boycotted the national event in Peshawar at the eleventh hour and created an ‘embarrassing’ situation for the organisers, escaped punishment.

“Representatives from Punjab and Sindh squash associations gave an assurance that such incident would not occur in the future. “On their complete assurance, the matter was amicably resolved in the best interest of the game in Pakistan.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 16^th, 2012.