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ISLAMABAD: Shahida Kausar Farooq, the head of Subh-e-Nau, has called upon the International Tennis Federation (ITF) to look into the working affairs of the Pakistan’s tennis governing body.
Shahida’s appeal comes amidst a growing dispute between her non-governmental organisation and the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF).
Problems between the two bodies arose after the PTF declared an event organised by Subh-e-Nau, which is scheduled to start from Thursday in Karachi, as a non-ranking event since it did not conform to tournament standards set by the management committee of the PTF.
A PTF press release issued on Monday said: “A tennis championship being held at Karachi from Oct 18 is a non-ranking tournament as it is not being organised as per the format approved by the management committee of the PTF.”
The PTF has not held a national ranking tournament for the last six months and Shahida accused them of starting petty politics against her institution to prevent them from holding national ranking events.
Moreover, in the last two years the PTF has held just two ranking events while the Subh-e-Nau has conducted eight such tournaments and Shahida was critical of the actions of the country’s tennis federation.
“The ITF should take notice of the mess that has been created by the PTF as they are discouraging tennis development in Pakistan,” Shahida told Dawn.
“PTF president Syed Kaleem Imam is posted in Sudan for over a year whereas the secretary of the federation is based in Quetta and there is no game development strategy prepared by the federation officials for the last two years.
“It is a matter of grave concern and the ministry of the Inter Provincial Coordination and the Pakistan Sports Board should also take notice over the declining affairs of the federation.”
Meanwhile, a tennis player, on the condition of anonymity, also criticised the federation saying that the PTF “is not serious in promoting the sport at any level.”
Despite several attempts, no official of the PTF was available to comment on the matter.
