ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) on Tuesday said the federation has taken up player Nasir Iqbal’s case at the highest level and the President Gold Cup’s winner will be cleared soon. This was stated by Group Captain Aamir Nawaz, Honorary Secretary, PSF while addressing a press conference here on Tuesday. It may be mentioned here that Nasir was the only player, whose dope test was taken twice by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), first on February 7 and then again on February 10. The test taken on February 7 was positive and only three days later, the taken test was negative. If a banned substance is used by an athlete then it remains in the blood for at least four to six months. Aamir said those players whose dope tests were found positive after Nasir were banned from the game however, Nasir is still under suspension. Speaking about the Chief of Air Staff (CAS) International Squash Championship ongoing here at Mushaf Ali Squash Complex, he said as many as eleven foreign players from countries including Hong Kong, Scotland, Egypt, Holland, England, New Zealand, Australia and Jordan will be participating in the championship. He said the qualifying round of the championship will be played from November 16 to 17. “The main round of the Championship will be played from November 18 to 21,†he said. Amir said this year, Pakistan successfully hosted two Professional Squash Association (PSA) events of US$ 25,000.
“The last and fourth PSA event will be played from December 31 to January 6, 2017,†he said. He said the PSF was considering holding PSA events in other cities which includes Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar. “We are also considering holding President Cup or Prime Minister Cup next year,†he said. He said Pakistani players failed to qualify for the finals in the past two squash events held here. “But this time Pakistani players are working hard for the CAS International Squash Championship and hopefully they will make it to the finals and win it,†he said. He said there are some lobbies who are working against Pakistan but we have made our dominating presence in the world. “We have been offered to be a part of different committees of the World Squash Federation and at Asian Level,†he said.
