New injury rules Arshad out of Asian Athletics

LAHORE: The newly-developed knee injury has ruled the country’s Olympian javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem out of the Asian Athletics Championship slated to be held in Thailand next month.

This was unveiled by the Athletics Federation of Pakistan's (AFP) chief Major General (retd) Mohammad Akram Sahi at a press briefing here at the PSB Coaching Centre on Wednesday.

“Arshad Nadeem is not fit and so he will not be featuring in the Asian Championship. We did try our level best to manage his treatment through various doctors but it has so far not helped,” said Sahi, also a former international athlete. He said that Arshad developed the injury in the National Games held in Quetta last month.

“We wanted that Asrahd should not feature in the National Games but we were not given heed and its result was that he developed an injury which hurt Pakistan’s cause,” Sahi said. “The entire world knows how big an athlete he is and I think it’s a great loss that he is not going to take part in the continental event as he had the ability to win gold,” said Sahi, also the vice-president of the Asian Athletics Association (AAA).

Flanked by Arshad and his coach Salman Butt, Sahi said that the coach had also advised that Arshad should not feature in the National Games as he had vital events ahead.

“Butt had said that it was not good for him to feature in the National Games. I was told that the track which hosted the athletics event at the National Games was not suitable for athletics,” he said.

Sahi said that the AFP was set to send Arshad to Germany for training but his injury has created a big hurdle in the way to implement that plan.

“Everything was done. The world’s best coach had been managed. We have also applied for visa but if he is not fit then how can we send him there?” Sahi said.

However, he hoped that Arshad would recover and feature in the Asian Games slated to be held in Hangzhou, China, from September 23 to October 8.

Arshad said that it was unfortunate that he would miss the continental event.

“I had trained and there was every chance to pull off a gold medal and record performance in the Asian Championship but I got injured,” said Arshad, who last year won two back-to-back golds in the Commonwealth Games and Islamic Games in Birmingham and Turkey, respectively.

The Asian Athletics Championship will be held in Thailand from July 12-16.

After Arshad’s ouster, the country will be represented by Pakistan’s No2 javelin thrower Mohammad Yasir Sultan (WAPDA), sprinters Shajar Abbas (WAPDA), Abdul Moeed (PAF) and Esha Imran (WAPDA) in the Asian Championship.

Arshad's coach told this correspondent in an informal chat after the news conference that an MRI of his right knee has been conducted. He added they will further conduct tests, also abroad in order to treat the injury.

He said that Arshad would continue to do his rehab like he had done when surgery of his elbow and left knee had been conducted in England last year.