'Bogus Pakistan badminton team' participated in Iran tournament: PBF

Lahore, Feb 19(ANI): A 'bogus Pakistan badminton team' comprising unranked players had been sent to Iran to participate in the Fajr International Badminton Tournament, Pakistan Badminton Federation (PBF) Senior Vice-President Syed Naqi Mohsin has said.

Addressing a news conference, Mohsin said that the 10-member team comprising four men and six women players were sent without the consent of the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA).

The PBF official added that the president of the 'illegal' badminton federation, Nazar Muhammad Gondal, had sent the bogus team to Iran.

"It's a team which comprises non deserving players and none of them are in top 10 of national ranking," the Daily Times quoted Mohsin, as saying.

"Lowly-ranked players Waqas Zahid (rank 12), Ali Mehdi (rank 20), Ali Murad (rank 23) and Awais Zahid not even in the top ninety of ranking list have been selected," he added.

Mohsin, who is also Pakistan Badminton Technical Officials Association's President, pointed out that the selection of women players was also not done on the basis of their ranks.

According to the Fajr International Challenge 2011 results, Zahid, Murad and Mehdi could not even qualify for the main event of the men's singles, while three women players from the Pakistan team lost in the very first round of the women's singles.

Mohsin, who is also the Asian Badminton Federation (ABF) Director, said the PBF had taken up the matter of participation of an illegal and bogus team in the Iranian tournament with the Asian body, which had assured that it would look into the matter.

"This parallel and illegal faction of the PBF is involved in unconstitutional and illegal badminton activities that are damaging the name of the country abroad besides wasting badminton talent at home, which is being ignored at the time of selection," he said.

"It is the right of Pakistan's top ranked players including doubles pair of Rizwan Azam and Kashif Sulehri and singles top seeds Wajid Ali, Ahsan Qamar and Zeeshan Umer to represent Pakistan in international events abroad but they have been deprived from it which is very unfortunate for the cause of badminton in the country," the PBF official added. (ANI)