KARACHI:
Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem travelled to South Africa for a training camp without obtaining a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB), raising questions over the arrangements surrounding the country’s top athlete.
A well-placed PSB source told this correspondent that Arshad did not inform the board before leaving for South Africa, where he is training under his coach Terseus Liebenberg ahead of two major international competitions next month.
“Yes, he has not told anyone and it is something strange,” the source said.
“We write it in our record that he has not got an NOC from the PSB before going to South Africa,” the source added.
Arshad is preparing for the World Ultimate Athletics Championship in Hungary from September 11-13 before travelling to Japan for the Asian Games, scheduled from September 19 to October 4.
The 29-year-old athlete’s decision to arrange the training stint himself has raised questions about who would be responsible for his arrangements while abroad.
“If he faces any issue, who will be responsible?” the PSB source said.
The development is particularly significant because the PSB has assumed a central role in Arshad’s affairs since his historic Olympic triumph in Paris, where he became Pakistan’s first individual Olympic champion.
The Athletics Federation of Pakistan (AFP) has had little involvement in his management since then, with the PSB and coach Salman Butt overseeing his affairs.
Arshad’s move to South Africa comes after a disappointing performance at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where the defending champion failed to qualify for the top eight in the finals.
He finished ninth in the 12-man final and even could not qualify for the top eight, leaving him without the opportunity to make the additional three attempts reserved for the top eight athletes.
The result was a sharp contrast to his performance at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, where Arshad won gold with a Games-record throw of 90.18 metres.
His recent performances have also fallen short of the extraordinary level he reached at the Paris Olympics, where he produced a 92.97 metres throw to win gold and set an Olympic record.
Although Nadeem has since won gold at the Islamic Games and Asian Championships, his distances have not matched the standards that established him as one of the world’s leading javelin throwers.
His South Africa camp is therefore aimed at helping him regain his rhythm and confidence before the upcoming major competitions.
Liebenberg, who has been working with Arshad in South Africa, believes the Olympic champion can rediscover his best form.
“All I know is that he persevered for many years to become Pakistan’s first-ever individual Olympic champion,” Liebenberg said.
“After such an incredible feat it is just natural that he had to once again reset, refocus, set new goals and regain his hunger for success at the highest level.”
Liebenberg said Arsahd remained mentally strong and expressed confidence that he could return to his best.
“He has an incredibly strong mindset and I firmly believe that he will once again regain his best form,” he said.
Arshad’s immediate focus will now be on rebuilding his form in South Africa before the World Ultimate Athletics Championship and Asian Games.
Attempts by this correspondent to contact Arshad and his coach Salman Butt for comment were unsuccessful.
