Following a lifetime a ban on Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem’s coach Salman Butt and the Punjab Athletics Association’s (PAA) elections in August being declared “illegal, unconstitutional, and null and void”, the Athletics Federation of Pakistan (AFP) on Monday announced a management committee for the “governance/administration” of the PAA.

On Sunday, AFP imposed a lifetime ban on Butt that barred him “for life from participating in any athletics activity —whether as an athlete, coach, official, or office bearer — at both national and international levels, inside or outside Pakistan”, citing “gross violations of the AFP Constitution”.

AFP also imposed a 10-year ban on Habib Shah, former secretary of the PAA, “from participation in any athletics-related activity in any capacity at national or international level.”

The federation announced that a management committee had been constituted headed by Shahida Khanum, AFP senior vice President, “to hold fair, transparent, and constitutionally valid elections of the Punjab Athletics Association at the earliest.”

“The committee will also run the routine affairs of the association until the completion of the new election process,” AFP stated in its press release on Sunday.

Today, AFP issued a press release announcing members of the management committee headed by Khanum after due approval of the AFP executive committee during its meeting on October 10.

Management committee members included senior member Asghar Ali Gill, former president of the PAA and advocate for the Supreme Court; Rashid Mehmood Butt, executive member; AFP Treasurer Shahina Ishtiaq; (Retd) Major Masood Haider, former coach of Pakistan Army Athletics; Syed Jamal Hussain, AFP executive member; Asghar Ali Neam Ul Badul Gill, former senior VP of the PAA; Khan Bahadur, former coach/athlete; Saud Jan, president of the Punjab Physical Education Teachers Association; Shehzadi Gulfam, former international athlete; Syed Saqlain Abbas, lecturer at New Madina College Faisalabad; and Dr Rehan Yousaf, COMSAT Sports Director.

According to AFP, the committee would “manage routine affairs of PAA as required and “draft of a constitution of PAA aligned to constitution of AFP”.

The committee “after approval of PAA constitution and electoral college by AFP, [would] hold elections of PAA to elect office bearers for next four years.

The committee can “co-opt any other member of AFP as and when required”, and was responsible for “any other task assigned by the AFP president.”

“The committee shall complete assigned tasks within 90 days of issuance of thisnotification,” the press release stated.

However, president of the management committee “may request the competentauthority for time extension in exceptional circumstances necessary for implementation of above quoted mandate in accordance with constitution of AFP.”

Sunday’s decision against Butt came against the backdrop of AFP seeking reasons behind a sharp decline in Arshad’s performance where he finished 10th in the men’s javelin final at the World Athletics Champ­ionship held in Tokyo last month.

In his reply to AFP, Butt said that it was due to the heat and humidity in the Japanese capital as well as a calf pain that Arshad couldn’t perform up to his usual standards.