PSB denies NOCs to four taekwondo athletes

Coach also refused permission to accompany team at junior Asian event.

KARACHI: The Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) denied issuing no-objection certificates (NOC) to four athletes who had been training for the Asian Junior Taekwondo Championship 2013 that starts in Jakarta today.

According to a Pakistan Taekwondo Federation (PTF) official, the country will now be represented by only two 16-year-olds – Mahnoor Hamid and Tahir Ali – in the female’s 63-kg and male’s 55-kg categories respectively. The team coach was also denied permission to travel with the team.

The PTF official said the PSB’s interim set-up for the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) had initially approved NOCs for six athletes and a coach. However, news of the refusal was received by the federation just two days prior to the event.

The development forced the four athletes, who arrived for their training session at the Islamabad Sports Complex on Tuesday, to return home disappointed.

“It’s heart-breaking and disappointing to send four kids back after they spent four months preparing for their international debut,” the PTF official told The Express Tribune. “The tiff between the POA and the PSB is taking its toll on the athletes. Now, two of our players will be going without a coach and will only be accompanied by one PTF official. It’s not the ideal international debut for any player.

“We ran after the PSB officials for a week to obtain the NOCs. They haven’t even bothered giving us an explanation for the refusal.”

When attempts to contact the PSB officials were made, they proved futile.

Mahnoor, Tahir keep their hopes up

Both Mahnoor and Tahir, however, felt that their participation could make a difference.

But the official stated that the PTF was keeping realistic expectations from the two athletes.

“We should shut down all the federations now,” said the frustrated official. “What’s the point of even holding domestic events when the athletes don’t get to participate in international tournaments?”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 20^th, 2013.

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