Mehboob, Danish pull out of World Open

Squash players involved in tiff with PSF over expenditure allowances

KARACHI: Pakistan’s Farhan Mehboob and Danish Atlas Khan have withdrawn from the upcoming $325,000 World Open to be played in the US owing to their differences over Travelling Allowance and Daily Allowance (TA/DA) with the Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF).

This is not the first time the players have pulled out of a competition or a camp due to similar reasons. With the blame game going back and forth, it is squash that has suffered the most, leading to a plummet in the player’s rankings.

It has been learnt that the two players wanted $1,000 as their TA/DA, whereas the federation had settled to give $600.

Farhan Mehboob makes it to main round

“The decision to not show up for the World Open rests with the players, but I can confirm that the PSF isn’t responsible to cover their full expenses in Professional Squash Association events,” PSF secretary Amir Nawaz told The Express Tribune.

On the other hand, Farhan’s father Mehboob Khan said that the federation should have met the demands of the players, claiming that the living expenses in the US were far greater than the allotted allowance.

Meanwhile, in an interesting development, Pakistan’s top-ranked player Nasir Iqbal has decided to play in the World Open despite revealing a day earlier that he intends to pull out due to medical reasons.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 12^th, 2015.

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