Hopes ‘South Asian Games’ for 18 from Pakistan denied visas
Minutes after Nasir Iqbal, Pakistan’s No.1 ranked squash player, won his quarterfinal against Nepal’s Arhan Keshar Simha, he was at court No.3 keeping a close watch on how his compatriot Farhan Zaman’s match was progressing. When Zaman was having trouble with a sore ankle, Iqbal attended to it between games while also passing on tips. Iqbal and senior player Sheik Shakib have taken on the unofficial role of mentors at the 12th South Asian Games because the Pakistan men and women’s teams have arrived here without their coaches. Squash is not the only Pakistan team which is missing a key member or two. In the 40 kilometre Individual Time Trial, Pakistan could not field Sabir, the national time trial record holder. Sabir and squash coaches Fahim Gul and Sattawat Babbar are among the 18 who did not receive the non-validated pass (NVP) which serves as a visa for Pakistanis travelling for the South Asian Games.
Table tennis, handball, athletics, wrestling, kabbadi, judo and hockey are the other Pakistan teams which will have a member short because they didn’t receive NVPs. In a letter to the organising committee of the games, Pakistan Olympic Committee secretary general Muhammad Khalid Mahmood has highlighted the predicament the contingent faced because of the non-issuance of NVP’s.
“You will please appreciate that as per prevalent competition strategy, both athletes and officials work together for achieving top position. The athletes who have not been issued NVPs are in fact sure medal winners. You will agree that refusing NVPs at this stage is contrary to the Olympic Charter,” Mahmood writes.
At least one official of four sports federations – cycling, volleyball, handball and wrestling – have also not been able to make the trip to Guwahati and Shillong. Syed Azhar Ali Shah, the secretary general of the Pakistan Cycling Federation, believed that the absence of Sabir resulted in a loss of a medal.
“He is our top cyclist and he was in good form. If he had been able to travel for the South Asian Games he would have definitely won a medal,” Shah said.
The squash coaches are also unlikely to make the trip now. “Our coaches not being here is an unexpected setback. As the squash event gets over by Wednesday, they won’t be able to make it,” Iqbal
A top Indian Olympic Association official said that all efforts were made to ensure that the Pakistan contingent had a ‘smooth arrival’ for the South Asian Games. “There are some things which are beyond our control when it comes to the Pakistan squad. But we have tried to ensure that almost all their athletes and officials who were to attend the games are here,” the official added.
Most Pakistan squads here are also struggling to recover from a nearly 40-hour journey from Islamabad to Guwahati. After deciding to change the original plan for flying in athletes in chartered flights as the Pakistan Olympic Association wanted to save on daily allowances, it was decided to send the team in batches.
“We had to travel to Doha and from there to Kolkata. In Doha we had a nine-hour stopover and in Kolkata an eight-hour stop over. It took us nearly 40 hours to get from Islamabad to Guwahati. Most of us have still not recovered from the journey,” Iqbal said.
School room for 12 women athletes, hotel for others
Guwahati: Twelve Indian women athletes, including Asian Games gold medallists, have alleged gender bias against the SAG organisers after they were made to stay in classrooms at Don Bosco School in Guwahati even as their male counterparts and officials were put up in a plush city hotel. The athletes, including Asian Games gold medal winners medallists MR Poovamma, Priyanka Panwar and Ashwini Akkunji and sprinter Sarabani Nanda were allotted rooms in Don Bosco School, which is 20 kilometres away from where the coaches, masseurs and recovery experts of the athletics team are staying. They were among the first batch of Indian athletes who arrived in the city on Saturday.
“This is clearly gender bias because there are rooms in hotel for the men and the coaching staff… We are not staying with the team and hence it will be difficult for us to utilise the services of the masseur or the recovery expert. We are staying in school rooms,” an athlete said. The athletes have informed the Athletics Federation of India about the treatment meted out to them and the AFI has directed its deputy chief coach Radhakrishnan Nair, who is in Guwahati, to talk to the accommodation in-charge of the organising committee of the games and ensure that the women sprinters are also given ‘hotel accommodation’. “These dozen women sprinters also include our Asian Games gold medal winners. The sports ministry has spend over Rs 1.5 crore on training stints abroad ahead of the Olympics, but when they come to India these girls don’t even get hotel accommodation,” an AFI official said.
