LAHORE-Pakistan’s Olympian Arshad Nadeem has been ruled out of the Asian Athletics Championship due to a knee injury, the Athletics Federation of Pakistan (AFP)’s president Akram Sahi shared in a press conference on Wednesday. 
During the press conference, AFP President Akram Sahi announced that Arshad Nadeem will not be available for the Asian championship due to an injury to his left knee. “Arshad is not fit to participate in the Asian Athletics Championship,” said Sahi.
Sahi also held Wapda accountable for Arshad Nadeem’s injury and alleged that the department forced him to participate in the recently-held National Games where he returned with a gold medal. “Arshad was forced to participate in the National Games. We had warned WAPDA from taking any risk in Arshad’s case as he just recovered from a knee injury,” he said. 
The AFP president went on to assert that the track used during the National Games in Quetta was not up to the mark and played a major role in Arshad Nadeem sustaining the injury. “Just for a medal, Arshad was forced to participate in the event in Quetta where the track is also not up to the mark,” Sahi claimed. 
The AFP chief further requested Wapda’s high-ups to take care of their national heroes. “Questions should be asked from higher authorities. We need to take care of our players,” he reiterated. The AFP spent around PKR10 million on Arshad’s knee surgery in England. He recovered from the injury before taking part in the 34th National Games last month. 
It is worth mentioning here that in the 34th National Games in Quetta, Arshad Nadeem outpowered his opponents to get his hands on the gold medal. Arshad showcased his potential and proved his mettle once again as he recorded the longest throw of 78.02m in his third attempt. His attempt was unmatched by any of his competitors and consequently clinched the gold medal.