ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) president Syed Kaleem Imam has once again warned all the affiliated units to organise tennis events which is their prime duty.
Talking to The Nation on Friday, Kaleem said: “It is a matter of quite concern that the PTF has 14 affiliated units, but none of them is fulfilling their responsibilities. I have time and again warned them to hold at least one ranking event every year, but they failed to even organise just one event.”
He said POF Wah, Peshawar, Quetta, Punjab, Wapda, ITA, Navy and Army were not playing their active role in promoting tennis at grassroots level and holding ranking events. Whenever I try to implement rules and regulations, they join hands and start making conspiracies against the PTF.
“The ongoing tussle between the POA and the PSB has badly affected the sports fraternity and especially tennis. We were deprived of taking part in two major international events as well as Islamic Solidarity Games where we were the defending champions. I have met with Inter Provincial Coordination (IPC) secretary Chaudhry Ejaz who is a professional person and assured his all-out help and promised to play his part in resolving the issue.”
Kaleem said he also met with PTF patron Senator Dilawar Abbas and discussed various tennis related issues. “Senator Dilawar is assigned to head the committee to utilize the PTF Complex on commercial basis to generate funds which will be used for the promotion of players and sending them to international events, as meager grant that we receive from the PSB is not enough for paying salaries and utility bills so sending players abroad is a far cry,” the PTF chief added.
Kaleem also promised to invite international coach for the training of Pakistan players in near future and also assured Pakistani players would continue to participate in all international events including Davis Cup, Junior Davis Cup, Fed Cup, Junior team event.
“We are sending two representatives Arif Qureshi and Khalil for administrative training at Bangkok. They will be the first two persons to receive such high-profile training which will help a great deal to the federation in future assignments.”
“Pakistan will participate in the Davis Cup Asia Oceania Group-II tie against Vietnam starting from February and then our home tie in April. We will make sure the Davis Cup home tie will be played in Pakistan. If this does not possible due to security concerns then we will ensure the tie will be played on neutral venue of our liking,” Kaleem asserted.
“The next year will witness a record number of ranking events and players will be given maximum opportunities to showcase their skills. I have worked with utmost commitment and devotion and expect same form others too but unfortunately, I didn’t get better response which I was expecting from them. Anyhow, I will not sit back and will remain in touch and try to use my good offices to generate funds for the federation and tennis players,” Kaleem concluded.