ISLAMABAD - International Tennis Federation (ITF) Level-III coach Amir Borghei of Iran, who is currently assigned by PTF/ITF to conduct Level I coaching to Pakistani coaches, said Pakistan was completely safe for all kinds of sporting activities and western propaganda regarding security concerns was totally baseless.
In an exclusive interview with TheNation on Friday the Iranian coach said: “When I was told by the ITF to go to Pakistan to conduct coaching course, people scarred me and told horrible stories about security situation in Pakistan. But I agreed to proceed to Pakistan to fulfil my commitment and I came here and saw nothing wrong. I advise to all those who had doubts while travelling to Pakistan they must at least come once to witness the security situation personally and they will feel that Pakistan is as safe as other countries for sports activities.”
Amir, who is a level III qualified coach, has visited several countries to conduct coaching as he is a qualified professional PTR coach and is currently serving as director coaching with Iranian Tennis Federation.
Amir said: “The people of Pakistan are very caring and wherever I had visited people gave me due respect and love and am really stunned with their hospitality. Pakistan and Iran have many things in common and could benefit from each other in different sporting fields, like wrestling, kabbadi, boxing, taekwando, judo and karate and other sports, Amir said.
When this correspondent asked him how he would compare Pakistani coaches with the others he had so far imparted coaching to them, Amir said: “These coaches are very good and can compete with the best of the world guys, but need to improve their knowledge by travelling to other countries to share experiences, which would benefit them a lot”, he added.
On a query by this scribe, Amir said: “Coaching is a completely different thing from playing, but one must have at least basic knowledge about tennis to become a very successful coach.
Amir said that two kind of certificates will be distributed amongst the participants of the course and one certificate will be given to all the 24 coaches that is from Pakistan Tennis Federation for attending the course and the second one would be given only to those who clear the written and theory tests in a ceremony to be held today at Senator Dilawar Abbas PTF Complex.
He said that he will return to Iran on Sunday and will visit Pakistan soon as his services will always available to the PTF whenever required. He praised PTF for providing excellent facilities and hospitality.
Meanwhile talking to this scribe Sri Lankan coach Bahirathan, who is also assisting Amir during the course said: “I am very satisfied with the security situation in Pakistan and it is our duty as ambassadors of our countries to let others know about the positive side of the story as there is no security problem in Pakistan as, we have faced similar kind of situation and at that period Pakistan helped us a lot in overcoming that situations. I will propose to my tennis federation to send their team or players to appear in Pakistan-organised tournaments alongside other international players.”