KARACHI: The Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) has reversed the lifetime ban earlier enforced on renowned coach Salman Iqbal Butt — the mentor of Olympic gold medallist Arshad Nadeem — effectively reinstating his professional status.
The decision, issued by Senator Pervaiz Rashid acting as the adjudicator for the PSB, declared the Athletics Federation of Pakistan’s (AFP) ban “unconstitutional, unlawful, beyond its authority, and void ab initio,” meaning it held no legal validity from the very beginning.
The AFP had slapped the ban on October 12, but Butt contested it, asserting that the federation acted without jurisdiction, due procedure, or legal grounds. After extensive hearings, the adjudicator ruled in Butt’s favour through an order dated November 13.
According to the ruling, “The lifetime ban carries no legal standing and is hereby declared null and void.” The AFP has also been directed to “immediately retract all negative communications” sent to international organisations such as World Athletics and Asian Athletics, which had harmed Butt’s reputation globally. Moreover, the federation is barred from issuing any future “defamatory or prejudicial statements” against him.
The adjudicator pointed out several procedural flaws in the AFP’s handling of the issue, stating that the coach was neither served with a formal charge sheet nor provided an inquiry report, and was denied a fair chance to defend himself.
“The punishment imposed in violation of due process is void ab initio,” the order said, referencing infringements of Articles 4, 10-A, and 25 of Pakistan’s Constitution. It further noted that the lifetime ban was “excessive, outside the federation’s authority, and unsupported by any constitutional provision” in AFP’s own framework.
The case also included disagreements related to the Punjab Athletics Association (PAA) elections, which the AFP had previously declared invalid.
However, the adjudicator ruled that the AFP had no authority over the matter, as the PAA is a provincial body whose elections fall under the oversight of the Punjab Sports Board and Punjab Olympic Association. Officials designated for monitoring the elections had raised no objections during the process.
The decision emphasised the detrimental impact the ban had on Pakistan’s elite athletics setup, stating that Butt — who trained Arshad Nadeem during his historic Paris 2024 Olympic campaign — is an integral part of the athlete’s preparation system.
The order stated that AFP’s actions “hampered Pakistan’s high-performance structure, created instability for a key Olympic contender, affected the country’s medal hopes, and posed serious reputational risks internationally.”
The case file also featured a written statement from Arshad Nadeem himself, supporting his coach and opposing the ban.
During the proceedings, the PSB’s legal advisor Saif ur Rehman Rao appeared for the board. AFP President Brig (R) Wajahat Hussain and lawyer Usman Akram represented the federation. The adjudicator dismissed AFP’s objection over the petition’s maintainability, confirming his complete jurisdiction under the PSB Constitution.
With this verdict, all professional rights, recognition, and privileges of Salman Iqbal Butt as a national athletics coach have been fully reinstated.
