August 28, 2007	Tuesday	Sha’aban 14, 1428

KARACHI, Aug 27: The beleaguered Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) was once again in hot waters on Monday after the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) disclosed that three of their boxers have been missing from the national camp set up under the supervision of camp commandant Mohammad Aslam.

The KPT wrote a letter dated Aug 24, 2007 to the PBF, pointing out that the three boxers had been missing from the national camp which showed either the camp commandant was highly irresponsible or the boxers left the camp with his consent.

In a letter to the president of PBF Zaffar Zuberi, the KPT manager sports, Shah Naeem Zafar, said that Abdul Waheed, Adnan Hussain and Arshad Hussain were missing from the camp at Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) Coaching Centre. The boxers are training for forthcoming international events.

Although the KPT official didn’t mention the name of the local coach who intimated about the absence of the boxers, sources said it was Mohammad Tariq of Wapda who informed the KPT officials about the boxers.

“It has come to my knowledge through one of the Pakistani coaches that these boxers are missing from the national camp and have left for Peshawar which is gross violation of camp rules.

“The camp commandant has failed to inform the KPT about the missing boxers which shows that either he has been most irresponsible or the boxers have left with his connivance. This needs to be looked into seriously by the federation,” Naeem wrote.

The KPT official reminded the federation of the doping scandal involving featherweight Mehrullah and light-welterweight Faisal Karim who were tested positive at the South Asian Games in Colombo last August for using cannabis. They were banned for six months by the organisers, while PBF slapped life bans on the pair.

The scandal created a furore in the local sports circle and caused embarrassment to the PBF and the country internationally.

“It is pertinent to mention that during the national camp for SAF Games some of the boxers left the camp and ultimately were tested positive for doping which brought a bad name to Pakistan and the KPT as one of the two boxers belonged to our department,” said a KPT official.

Coincidentally, Aslam was the camp commandant of the SAF Games training camp at the same venue, although the PSB had clearly instructed the PBF that as the camp was being run through PSB’s assistance, there would be no camp commandant for the camp.PBF not only ignored PSB directives, they “appointed” Aslam the camp commandant till the Doha Asian Games last December. Aslam, one of the favourites of PBF chairman Anwar Chowdhry, has now once again returned in the same capacity.

According to a PSB official, Aslam who belongs to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has been accommodated as camp commandant as he has been posted to Karachi and doesn’t have accommodation.

Naeem said that boxers had been released on PBF’s request on the condition that they would be supervised by the camp officials but such irresponsible behaviour had not served the purpose of the camp.

“The boxers are released by the departments purely on the understanding that they will be properly looked after and controlled by camp authorities. They are considered to be on national duty while attending camp and if boxers are given such free hand to roam around at their own will, the national camp will not serve the purpose.”

The KPT official asked the PBF to instruct the missing boxers to report to their department to prepare and defend their title at national cadet and junior championship which starts from Sept 4 in Lahore.