Former national and WAPDA coach Shahjahan Latif has expressed his shock over the treatment given to the WAPDA female table tennis players which led to their boycott of the first Chroma Master Cup being held at Islamabad. The top five players of WAPDA on Monday withdrew from the event after WAPDA officials Haji Khalid Mahmood (Secretary of the WAPDA Sports Board) and Khalid Mirza (Manager of the team) showed rude behaviour to the players. “They inducted a new player Liouza Irshad unfairly in the team and also appointed her as captain,” he said. He said that she was not even a player of the provincial level and had never attended a coaching camp. She was appointed without any trials which irritated the players and they reacted against the decision, he added. He further stated all this happened in his presence in Islamabad when the players received threatening calls regarding their jobs. He also accused Haji Khalid Mahmood and Khalid Mirza nepotism. He said that although a manager and assistant manager were appointed along with the team but no one was accompanying the players during the event. He also requested the higher authorities of WAPDA to step in and take serious action against the officials who were bringing bad name to sports as well as his department.
