The Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) has expressed serious reservations on the affirmation of the Pakistan Netball Federation (PNF) that the Pakistan Youth Girls team assured the “first position” in the Netball Championship of Asian Youth 2025 and has addressed to the Federation to present a written explanation within three days, classified by the State. Associated Press of Pakistan reported.
Last week, Pakistan completed an extraordinary undefeated campaign to claim the title of the Netball Championship of Asian youth, dominating the Maldives 60-35 in the final of the dishes group (PG).
Eleven teams participated in the championship and had divided into two groups: Group A (Division of the Gold Cup) with Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong and India, while Group B (Division of the Plate Cup) had Taipei, Japan, South Korea, Pakistan, Maldives and Saudi Arabia.
In a letter of explanation issued by PSB on Sunday, reference was made to the PNF letter, in which the Federation said the team had secured first place. According to PSB, the claim was written in a way that created the impression of a victory in the gold medal.
The Board also expressed concern that the president of the PNF, Mudassar Razzaq Arain, reinforced this misleading impression during televised interviews in the main media, where he explicitly referred to a victory in the gold medal and publicly thanked senior government officials for his gratitude.
Reference was also made to a viral video of this interview on the official notice. According to PSB, this alleged achievement was used by the Federation to request cash rewards under the cash adjudication of 2024, which subsequently led to recognition and benefits at the government level.
The notice has instructed the Netball Federation to provide an exhaustive explanation in writing within three days. In accordance with the fact that the matter refers to the competent authorities to obtain a more necessary action, according to Application.
In response to the PSB letter, the president of PNF, Arain, said in a video message that the sports board had misunderstood.
“I would like to clarify that Pakistan was in the ‘B’ group and won all his games in the division of the dish after competing against teams such as Chinese Taipei, Japan, Korea, Pakistan, Maldives and Saudi Arabia,” said Arain.
He added that the PSB had not provided funds or assistance to participate in this championship.
The copies of the PSB letter have also been sent to the relevant federal ministers, the president of the Prime Minister’s Youth Program, the Secretary of the Ministry of Interprovincial Coordination and the president of the Olympic Association of Pakistan, Application aggregate.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had also praised the team for his victory.
“Special thanks for remaining undefeated throughout the tournament!” He said in a publication about X. “Very well played!”
The tournament took place from June 27 to July 4 at the Jeonju Hwasan gym in South Korea.
