ITF cancels tennis events in Pakistan

ITF cancelled the juniors’ tournaments for 2nd year due to a lack of foreign entries as well as security concerns.

KARACHI: The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has cancelled the juniors’ tournaments in Pakistan for the second year due to a lack of foreign entries as well as security concerns.

Two junior championships were scheduled to take place in September and October, according to the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF), but since the ITF did not receive enough entries from international players and it does not want to risk the security of foreigners, the events were cancelled.

“More than the ITF itself, it is the image of Pakistan among the players in the international circuit,” PTF Secretary Rashid Khan gave The Express Tribune the reasons behind the cancellation. “Our players used to benefit from it the most. They would get a chance to improve their rankings and would get the exposure.  But since nothing is happening, they are quitting the sport.”

Khan said that the cancellation also causes monetary loss to the PTF before adding that international events attract sponsors but for two years its draught in Pakistan has also exhausted PTF’s funds to an extent that the federation could barely hold national championships to keep the local players active.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 21^st, 2010.