PTF destroying tennis, claims Shahida Farooq

ISLAMABAD - Shahida Kausar Farooq, Chairperson Subh-e-Nau has slammed Pakistan Tennis Federation's (PTF) policies for not promoting the game in its true spirit. While talking exclusively to The Nation Shahida Farooq said that Pakistan Tennis Federation management is not serious in promoting tennis but working for officials vested interests to provide benefit to some blue-eyed individuals. Commenting on a junior's tournament which begins from Saturday, Shahida said that Pakistan Tennis Federation has announced this tournament just two days ago, due to which a significant number of talented and deserving players will not be able to participate in the event due to shortage of time. She stated that the organizers should announce such events well in time to make sure deserved players participation in the tournament. She said "We are receiving calls from players and their parents from far flung areas of the country who would miss this tournament because of shortage of time. Commenting on the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of PTF, which will be held in Islamabad on Monday, she said that there are 14 units of Pakistan Tennis Federation and only three or four are active while others are non-functional. She called for ban on these non-functional units. Shahida Kausar reminded that Subh-e-Nau initiated the Federation Cup preparations after a gap of 10 years but at the time of team's departure, no officials contacted us, despite Pakistan Tennis Federations ongoing inadequacies, inefficiencies and rampant favouritism, she vowed that Subh-e-Nau would continue its efforts to promote the sport towards the best benefits for tennis players. Meanwhile when this correspondent contacted to PTF spokesman Mumtaz for his comment on the issue, he termed the Subh-e-Nau claim baseless and claimed that the federation has informed all the players well in time. He further said, Subh-e-Nau management instead of criticizing Pakistan Tennis Federation must make their acts together as they have just cancelled a proposed tournament scheduled to be held at Islamabad at the eleventh hour which is a bad practice as Pakisan Tennis Federation has a very tight schedule of tournaments and we made space for them but they back off. The federation has arranged maximum number of tournaments after taking charge of the federation that shows Pakistan Tennis Federation commitment to the tennis, he concluded.

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