The Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) on Wednesday banned the secretary general of the Pakistan Federation Baseball (PFB), Syed Fakhar Ali Shah, for sending national teams to international competitions without obtaining the required No-Objection Certificates (NOCs).

In its decision, the PSB stated that Fakhar was banned for breaching Rule 7(1)(XXXIII) by not securing NOCs for two events held in Malaysia and Taiwan this year.

When contacted by Dawn.com, Fakhar defended the federation’s actions.

Fakhar — who was elected as president of the South Asia Baseball and Softball Federation earlier this month — stated that in the last year, the PFB applied for PSB NOCs for four out of five events and only received clearance for two.

He claimed the NOCs for the other two events were not received, even after the competitions had concluded.

“Except for only one Asian Under-15 event, which was also the qualifying round for the World Cup, the Pakistan Federation Baseball asked for the PSB’s NOC for four other events, but only got for two events,” Fakhar said.

He explained that the federation proceeded without the NOCs because missing the events would have caused Pakistan to lose ranking points.

Fakhar — son of former PFB chief late Khawar Ali Shah — stated that participation in five international events, including categories for U-15 boys, girls and men, helped Pakistan improve its global ranking from 48th to 32nd.

“The PSB requires eight weeks to get the NOC, but as baseball is a team sport we have to complete the documents of 25 to 30 members’ squads and that is not possible to complete all the requirements of the PSB eight weeks ago,” he mentioned, citing the lengthy process of obtaining passports for U-15 players as a particular challenge.

Fakhar also mentioned that Pakistan in 2023 were ranked 22nd in the world but the lack of funding saw the national team drop to 48th.

Fakhar further lamented that the PFB had received no appreciation for the improved ranking but was instead served with a ban.

He also highlighted that all players and officials returned home from the trips abroad, with no cases of anyone slipping away.

The PFB general secretary revealed that he had already submitted a detailed reply to the PSB’s initial notice and would respond again to the decision to ban him.

“I did not do anything wrong but just ensured the participation of the Pakistan teams at international level to improve Pakistan’s ranking in the world,” he added.