KARACHI, 30 May 2008 — Almost 15 years after he quit professional squash, Jahangir Khan believes there is no hope for the sport in Pakistan unless some sweeping changes are carried out in the way it is being run in the country.

In an interview to Arab News, Jahangir Khan, who once made squash a popular sport in Pakistan because of his unmatched heroics on the world stage, said the downslide of the country’s squash will continue in the current circumstances.

“It is going to get from bad to worse,” warns Jahangir, a record 10-time British Open champion and now president of the World Squash Federation (WSF). “The system through which our squash is being run is faulty and I fear that it is never going to work,” he adds.

Jahangir took a swipe at the Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) hierarchy, saying that its top brass had little or no idea how squash should be run in the country.

He was particularly critical of the PSF secretary Shamsul Haq, saying that he had no knowledge of the game and still he was the one effectively running the national squash affairs.

“If you talk to the PSF secretary, you will know what’s wrong with our squash. The man doesn’t know anything about squash and yet he is the one who is running it in our country. It is the greatest misfortune of a sport that I’ve loved all my life,” he laments.

Since the exit of Jahangir and his former nemesis Jansher Khan, a record eight-time World Open champion, Pakistan’s stock in the squash world has declined dramatically.

The current year has been the worst so far following poor performances of the colts in the British Junior Championships and a humiliating loss to minnows Kuwait in the Asian Senior Championships, easily the worst defeat Pakistan have ever suffered on a squash court.

Pakistan’s top squash professionals have been flopping miserably on the international circuit and not even a single one of them is currently bracketed among the top-30 in the world. Aamir Atlas Khan at No. 32 is the highest-ranked Pakistani player followed by Mansoor Zaman (33), Farhan Mahboob (43), Yasir Butt (48), Adil Maqbool (76), Shahid Zaman (82), Majid Khan (84) and Shamsul Islam Khan (90).

Even those lowly positions are sort of ‘engineered’ as Pakistani players manage to score ranking points by competing in series of international events held on home soil. They’ve been unable to give similar performances in similar events held abroad.

The current scenario is in stark contrast to the 1980s and early ‘90s when around five or six Pakistani players used to occupy spots in the elite top-10 club usually headed either by Jahangir or Jansher.

But squash officials seem unconcerned and continue to paint a rosy picture of the national squash scene.

Jahangir attributes this optimism to their ignorance about the game.

“They (PSF officials) have no background or experience of squash so what can you expect from them,” he says.

Jahangir suggests that the country’s sports authorities should act quickly and bring about sweeping changes in the national squash set-up. He believes that if the need be, squash should be taken away from the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), which has been running it for decades.

“We shouldn’t be thinking about individuals or departments. We should be thinking about national interest. Lifting the standard of Pakistan squash is like working towards national interest,” he stresses.

Jahangir wants squash to be run by a body formed by professionals and headed by a ‘chief executive’, who should preferably be a former squash player with loads of experience.

“You hire a chief executive, pay him and hold him accountable after a year or two. The time for so-called honorary jobs is over. What Pakistan squash needs is results and that can only be achieved by professionals.”

Jahangir cites the example of Egypt, who have achieved a dramatic reversal of fortunes in recent years. There are four Egyptians in the current top-10 with Amar Shabana at No. 1 followed by youngster Ramy Ashour (4), Karim Darwish (8) and Wael El-Hindi (9).

“The revival of squash in Egypt proves that professionals can make a huge difference,” says Jahangir. “For several years, Egypt were down on the international circuit. But their federation hired former players who are now running squash there. An ex-player is actually heading the federation in that country. And the results show that they are successful administrators.”

Jahangir urged the authorities to act swiftly and decisively. “Squash was one of our few success stories and it shouldn’t remain as a thing of the past. We can still be world champions but somebody will have to come forward and take some much-needed steps.”