Prevented from defending world snooker title: Asif, Babar want CJP, PM to intervene

KARACHI: The snooker crisis seems to be deepening as Mohammad Asif and Babar Masih have appealed to the Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar and Prime Minister Imran Khan to hold an inquiry into why they were denied the opportunity of representing the country and defending their title in the IBSF World 6-Red and Teams Snooker Championships being staged in Egypt.

Asif and Babar were prevented from taking part in the ongoing twin events by Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA), which said they had refused to sign the central contract for 2019.

Addressing newsmen in Lahore on Thursday, the two cueists slammed the policies of the association. “The entire snooker community has been saddened by the PBSA action of not allowing us to proceed to Egypt. Many senior and junior cueists were in attendance at our press conference today to show solidarity with us,” Asif remarked while talking to ‘The News’ on Thursday evening. “They also felt that we have been treated in an unfair manner.

“We have appealed to the Chief Justice and the Prime Minister to look into this matter because we understand that national interest has been compromised by the people at the helm of the affairs in the PBSA,” Asif added.

During the media briefing, the protesting cueists had also quoted the PBSA chairman Ali Asghar Valika’s interview in which he had conceded that better handling of the matter by the association’s management could have prevented such a bitter and unfortunate outcome.

Shahram Changezi, an accomplished cueist and a former champion from Islamabad, said that Pakistan as well as snooker had been victimised by the PBSA’s decision to stop Asif and Babar.“The victimised cueists are fighting a lone battle against the game’s administrators. The government institutions should play their part in this matter,” he opined.

Meanwhile, the PBSA president Munawwar Hussain Shaikh dismissed the charges hurled against the association. “Everyone knows how much the association has done for the cueists over the years. We have taken care of them in the best possible manner with the available resources. There have been times when we differed with them but we always tried to help them. They must understand that nobody is above the law. The cueists will have to follow discipline,” the PBSA president said. He said that a meeting of the association would be held on Friday (today) to discuss the issue.