PESHAWAR: International technical official Murtaza Hassan hailing from Kohat has been nominated by World Taekwondo Union as referee to officiate contests in the ongoing 17th Asian Games.

Talking to APP, Murtaza, who is also secretary general of the Pakistan Taekwondo Federation, said that the nomination was sent to him by the Asian Taekwondo Union.

Murtaza who is leaving for South Korea on Friday is the first Pakistani referee to officiate contests in the Asian Games.

“It is a big honour for me to act as referee in the Asian Games,” he said, adding that it was a big honour for the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as well.

Murtaza further said that he had acted as referee in the Islamic Games held in 2013 in Indonesia, Asian Junior Taekwondo Championship held in China besides performing duties as official in Malaysia, Korea, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan and Bangladesh.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2014