{"id":28726,"date":"2025-11-24T15:04:22","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T15:04:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=28726"},"modified":"2025-11-24T15:04:22","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T15:04:22","slug":"psb-overturns-lifetime-ban-on-arshad-nadeems-coach-salman-butt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=28726","title":{"rendered":"PSB overturns lifetime ban on Arshad Nadeem\u2019s coach Salman Butt"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>The Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) has overturned a lifetime ban imposed on Salman Iqbal Butt, the coach of Olympic gold medallist Arshad Nadeem, ruling that the sanction was unlawful and restoring his professional rights.<\/p>\n<p>In a detailed order issued by Senator Pervaiz Rashid in his capacity as adjudicator for the PSB, the lifetime ban imposed by the Athletics Federation of Pakistan (AFP) on October 12 was declared \u201cvoid ab initio and without lawful authority.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The AFP had imposed the ban on Butt over undisclosed administrative disputes, including a disagreement involving the Punjab Athletics Association elections. Butt challenged the ban, arguing that it was issued without proper jurisdiction, due process, or legal basis. After extensive proceedings, the adjudicator ruled in favor of Butt in a final order dated November 13.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe lifetime ban has no legal effect and is declared void,\u201d the order stated.<\/p>\n<p>It directed the AFP to \u201cimmediately withdraw all adverse communications\u201d sent to international bodies, including World Athletics and the Asian Athletics Association, which had negatively affected Butt\u2019s international standing. The federation is also restrained from issuing any future \u201cdefamatory or prejudicial communications\u201d against him.<\/p>\n<p>The adjudicator noted multiple procedural and legal flaws in the AFP\u2019s actions, including the absence of a formal charge sheet, no inquiry report, and the lack of a meaningful right to a hearing or defense.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA penalty imposed in violation of due process is void ab initio,\u201d the order read, citing violations of Articles 4, 10\u2011A, and 25 of the Constitution of Pakistan. It also described the lifetime ban as \u201cultra vires, excessive, and unsupported by any constitutional authority\u201d under AFP rules.<\/p>\n<p>The ruling clarified that the AFP had no jurisdiction over the PAA elections, as the association is a provincial body under the supervision of the Punjab Sports Board and the Punjab Olympic Association. The elections were observed by nominated officials, and no objections were raised at the time.<\/p>\n<p>The order also highlighted the adverse impact of the ban on Pakistan\u2019s elite athletics programme. Butt has coached Nadeem for several years, including during his historic performance at the Paris 2024 Olympics. According to the adjudicator, AFP\u2019s actions had \u201cdisrupted Pakistan\u2019s high-performance athlete\u2019s preparations, created uncertainty for a leading Olympic athlete, damaged national medal prospects, and risked reputational harm internationally.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The record included a written endorsement from Nadeem himself supporting Butt and opposing the ban.<\/p>\n<p>The PSB\u2019s legal advisor, Saif ur Rehman Rao, assisted during the proceedings, while the AFP was represented by its president, Brigadier (R) Wajahat Hussain, and advocate Usman Akram. The adjudicator overruled AFP\u2019s objection to the petition\u2019s maintainability, affirming full jurisdiction under the PSB Constitution.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) has overturned a lifetime ban imposed on Salman Iqbal Butt, the coach of Olympic gold medallist Arshad Nadeem, ruling that the sanction was unlawful and restoring his professional rights. In a detailed order issued by Senator Pervaiz Rashid in his capacity as adjudicator for the PSB, the lifetime ban imposed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28726\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}