Baseball officials irked by representation

Forced to reach compromise with softball federation.

KARACHI: The Pakistan Federation of Baseball (PFB) and softball authorities have been forced to reach a compromise, which would see the latter include its men’s team in the upcoming National Games after a lapse of four years with a women’s baseball team also taking part.

However, the federations will not get a chance to include both their men’s and women’s team in the Games, which has irked the PFB. According to an official, a compromise ‘had to be reached’.

“It’s a positive thing so there shouldn’t be any objection to it,” Softball Federation of Pakistan (SFP) President Muhammad Saleem Khan told The Express Tribune. “We’re getting representation at the National Games after four years and we deserve it with all the work we’ve done in the smaller cities. We have eight units and we qualify to have representation.”

But the decision has not pleased the PFB officials who say that the decision is undermining the baseball team.

“They still have two months and they should have both men’s and women’s baseball events. That’s what we’ll be pushing for. I believe the decision is unfair,” said PFB Secretary Pervaiz Shah Khawar.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 17^th, 2012.