LAHORE (Kashmir English): Olympian Arshad Nadeem went to South Africa for a training camp without getting the no-objection certificate (NOC) from the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB), raising eyebrows over the arrangements concerning the nation’s top athlete.
A reliable PSB source told The Correspondent that Arshad did not contact the Board before flying to South Africa, where he is training under coach Terseus Liebenberg for two major international events next month.
“Yes, he did not contact anyone, and it is odd,” the source said. “We will record that he went to South Africa without getting an NOC from the PSB,” the source added.
Arshad’s training will lead up to the World Ultimate Athletics Championship in Hungary from September 11-13 before going to Japan for the Asian Games from September 19 to October 4.
He has decided to directly arrange for himself the training in question, and this has raised questions as to who will be responsible for his arrangements abroad. “If he faces any problem, who will be responsible?”PSB source added.
The significance of this development lies in Arshad Ahmed’s close involvement with the PSB since his remarkable success at the Olympics in Paris, where he made history for Pakistan by becoming the first-ever individual Olympic champion.
Since then, the Athletics Federation of Pakistan has had very little input into Arshad’s affairs. This is because he has been primarily handled by the PSB, with his coach Salman Butt closely supervising him.
Arshad’s departure to South Africa took place after his dismal outing at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where the reigning champion failed to finish among the top eight in the final.
With a ninth-place finish in the 12-man final, Arshad was not able to finish among the top eight, which would have allowed him to have three more attempts.
That was indeed a stark contrast from his performance during the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, where Arshad clinched the gold medal with a throw of 90.18 metres to set a new record at the Games.
In fact, Arshad’s latest outings haven’t come anywhere near the level of success he achieved at the Paris Olympics, where he registered a throw of 92.97 metres to win the gold
