A lifetime ban and month-long legal fiasco that ensued didn’t stop Salman Butt from coaching Arshad Nadeem to yet another global javelin title at the Islamic Solidarity Games last week. With the ban recently being declared “illegal and void” by the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) Adjudicator, Salman has already gotten back to work.
“We feel that justice has been served,” Salman told Dawn in a phone call while attending an overseas conference.
“And now, I’ll continue with the work I’m doing,” added Salman, who serves as the Asian Director of Development for World Athletics.
The Athletics Federation of Pakistan (AFP) imposed a lifetime ban on Salman on October 12, citing “gross violations of the AFP Constitution” due to “illegal and unconstitutional” elections held by the Punjab Athletics Association (PAA), of which Salman was president till August 6. The ban barred Salman from participating in any athletics activities nationally or internationally. Salman appealed the ban, and PSB appointed Senator Pervaiz Rashid as adjudicator to the case.
In the meantime, Salman was cleared to travel with Arshad to the Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh, where the 28-year-old defended his gold medal.
A hearing held on November 13 – the final order of which was made available today – declared that “imposing a lifetime ban is without lawful authority, unconstitutional, ultra vires, and void ab initio.”
“AFP’s attempt to unilaterally declare PAA’s elections as ‘null and void’ is without jurisdiction, as election supervision lies with the provincial authorities and not AFP.
The order further stated that examination of the AFP Constitution revealed that “there is no provision authorising a lifetime ban upon an individual coach.”
The order also stated that no formal charge sheet was issued to the petitioner, nor was an inquiry report provided to Salman or a meaningful right of hearing or defence afforded.
The petitioner’s submissions regarding PAA elections, his coaching credentials, and the adverse impact on national athletes are supported by the record, the order stated.
“Accordingly, the lifetime ban has no legal effect and is declared void.”
PSB directed AFP to immediately withdraw all adverse communications sent to any national or international bodies regarding the ban. It also restored all “professional rights, status, and privileges” of Salman as a national athletics coach.
“AFP is restrained from issuing defamatory or prejudicial communications regarding the petitioner in future,” the order read.
It also took into account the impact on Arshad, who had written to the Pakistan Olympics Association (POA) on Oct 17 and endorsed support for Salman.
“AFP’s actions disrupted Pakistan’s high-performance preparations, created uncertainty for a leading Olympic athlete, damaged national medal prospects, risked reputational harm internationally,” the order read.
“Such actions are inconsistent with responsible governance of national sports federations.”
The order stated that circulating the ban to international bodies, including World Athletics and Asian Athletics, resulted in damage to Salman’s international standing and perception of Pakistan in global forums. “Violation of norms of transparency and responsible international communication, AFP’s conduct is found to be improper, premature, and harmful to Pakistan’s sporting reputation.”