BESET by injuries and a dip in performance, Pakistan’s javelin superstar Arshad Nadeem faces a new challenge: his career has to move forward without his mentor and coach, Salman Butt. On Sunday, Mr Butt was slapped with a lifetime ban by the Athletics Federation of Pakistan for violating the constitution during the controversial elections of the Punjab Athletics Association. The notice of the ban came a day after Mr Butt, who had been the Olympic champion’s coach since the Tokyo Games in 2021, had submitted a reply to the AFP regarding Arshad’s sub-par performance at last month’s world championships in the Japanese capital. Having won Olympic gold in Paris last year in record-breaking fashion, Arshad has seen very limited international action, with most of his time since spent recuperating from an injury and subsequent surgery to treat a lingering calf issue ahead of the championships, where he finished a lowly 10th. His only previous international assignment since the Olympics was at the Asian Athletics Championship in South Korea, where he won gold. In his explanation to the AFP, Mr Butt blamed the heat and humidity in Tokyo, as well as the recurring pain in Arshad’s operated calf as reasons for a best throw of 82.75m, a far cry from his 92.97m Olympic effort. At that time, Arshad had spoken about breaching the 100m-barrier in future but since then, he has regressed and now will be without the man he called his ‘spiritual father’.

Since becoming his coach, Mr Butt is reported to have exercised undue control over Arshad, including his media engagements. Everything had to go through Mr Butt, who had constantly been by Arshad’s side since the athlete’s rise to stardom. Mr Butt had spoken about being attached with Arshad until the latter wanted him to continue. With this change, the AFP, which has banned Mr Butt, must appoint a coach who can help Arshad rediscover his lost form.

Published in Dawn, October 14th, 2025