KARACHI: As many as 30 sportspersons of the Karachi Port Trust (KPT), including former snooker world champion Mohammad Yousuf, have been terminated without any valid reason, sources told ‘The News’ on Thursday. Sources said that the KPT had regularised 80 sports employees, out of a pool of around 120, a few months ago, but the remaining lot, most of them international players, has been fired.
Sources said that the KPT Human Resource Department says that the appointment of these employees were illegal. But a source argued that the appointment of the whole pool of employees was made with the approval of the KPT chairman.
If the appointment of the recently fired employees was illegal then the appointment of those employees whose services have been regularised was also illegal.
All these employees who have been shown the exit door were working in their respective fields on monthly stipends.
The axed employees have some big names among them. Mohammad Yousuf, who had lifted snooker world title for Pakistan in 1994, has been a surprising target of the authorities. Similarly, Ali Akber Shah is a big name in boxing and so is the boxing coach Ali Mohammad Tiger.
KPT football team has been hit badly by the decision as 13 players, seven or eight of them part of the current team playing in the Pakistan Premier Football League, have been terminated.
The rookie goalie Ihsanullah, midfielder Junaid Qadir, Abdul Waheed, Sajid Hussain and Shoaib Ahmed are some of the prominent footballers who have been fired.
Junaid Qadir represented Pakistan in the Asian Under-22 Championship qualifiers in Saudi Arabia last year, while goalkeeper Ihsanullah has been regularly representing Pakistan junior football team.
They have been deprived of bread and butter at a stage when they needed financial support the most.
With the decision the KPT football team has shrunk to just 14 or 15 players.
Sources said that Mohammad Sharjeel Jafferi, who was acting as a supervisor, and Tariq Ali (football), who were also terminated, were surprisingly reinstated through six-month contract letters given on Thursday.
KPT’s Manager HR Mehmood was contacted by this correspondent but he refused to give a comment.
List of terminated employees include: Ali Akber Shah, Ali Mohammad Tiger (both boxing), Tariq Salim Rakka Masih ( golf), Shafqat Rana, Ahmed Saeed, Usman Rana, M Patni, Taimoor Ali, Ausaf Rabbani, M A Muqtadir (all cricket), Mohammad Yousuf (snooker), Mohammad Talib (trainer), Ihsanullah, Abdul Waheed, Irfan Younis, Junaid Qadir, Daniyal, Aamir, Ghulam Raza, Mohammad Rafiq, Sajid Hussain, Shoaib Ahmed, Tehsin, Zubair Khan and Tariq Ali (all football), Hammad Ahmed Karar Hafiz (squash), Mohammad Sharjeel Jafferi (supervisor) and Hashmat Ali Khan (gardener), Adeel Siddiqui and Salim Paracha (both badminton).