Pakistan’s premier weightlifter Nooh Dastagir Butt will not be able to take part in the Asian Games and the Paris Olympics after being accused of being part of a parallel weightlifting interim committee.
The Pakistan Weightlifting Federation (PWF) has levied these allegations against the 25-year-old.
Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) has formed an interim committee to run the weightlifting affairs of the country and Nooh Dastgir Butt has been accused of being its member.
Nooh openly denied their claims in a message on his Instagram.
I, unfortunately, won’t be able to participate in future weightlifting competitions — be it National Games (2023) or international competitions like Asian Games (2023) or Olympic Games (2024) — as I have been alleged to be a member of a parallel weightlifting interim committee by the Pakistan Weightlifting Federation (PWF). As a result, I won’t be given an opportunity or platform to participate in future competitions, Nooh wrote on his social media.
I will come out and state openly that I am not a part of any parallel weightlifting interim committee in both word and deed, he added.
The Commonwealth Games gold medalist is perhaps the country’s best hope of winning a medal at the Asian Games and the Olympics and his absence from these events will be another dark day for Pakistan’s sporting culture which is marred with infighting.
The matter has been referred to Pakistan Olympic Association and hopefully, Nooh will be able to represent Pakistan once again.
