Pakistan’s star Javelin thrower, Arshad Nadeem has suffered yet another setback as he has been unable to start his training for the upcoming competitions. Arshad was due to arrive in South Africa for his training program but he is yet to receive his visa to travel to the country, Dawn reported.
Arshad, along with junior compatriot, Mohammad Yasir were set to travel to South Africa to train in Northwest University Potchefstroom under coach Terseus Liebenberg for all the upcoming major events. Their visas have been under process for over a month and there is still no confirmation when the visas will be received.
The star Javelin thrower is set to take take part in four major competitions in the next few months. The World Athletics Championships in the US will be held from 15-24 July, which will be followed by Birmingham Commonwealth Games (July 28 to August 8). The Islamic Solidarity Games are scheduled to be held in Turkey between August 9 to 18 and finally, the 2022 Asian Games are set to be held from 10 to 25 September in China.
According to the President of Athletics Federation of Pakistan, retired Major Gen Mohammad Akram Sahi the arrangements had been made for Arshad and Yasir to travel to South Africa but they are still not sure how much longer the visa process will take.
He said, “We had filed visa applications for the two athletes on January 7 through an authorized visa application center in Lahore. But we are not sure when we are going to get these endorsed. The situation is quite worrying as we’ve made advance room bookings for the athletes [in Potchefstroom], paying Rs. 2.5 million for that. We have been told that we may even lose that amount if we remain unable to send our athletes in time.”
Arshad has yet to start his training program. Earlier, his training was disrupted due to the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) as he was not allowed to train in Punjab stadium. The latest issue will further hamper his chances of bagging a medal for Pakistan in these major competitions.
