The sponsorship of Egyptian prodigy Mohamed Zakaria by a multinational company owned by the vice-president of the Pakistan Squash Federation has drawn stinging criticism and anger from the Pakistani squash community.

One of those critics is the legendary Qamar Zaman…

The 1975 British Open champion thinks the money would have been better spent supporting home-grown talent.

Zaman said: “As the CEO of the company, Mr Asad can sponsor whoever he likes, of course. That is his decision. But as a vice-president of the Pakistani Squash Federation, he is bound to look after his own players.

“There are boys and girls in his own country who are playing well and deserve this support. Noor Zaman, Hamza Khan, Muhammad Ashab Irfan… They want to compete around the world but [aeroplane] tickets are too costly.

“In Pakistan, 90% of people in the squash community are annoyed about this. They are asking why he is not supporting our players. Pakistan Squash Federation are supporting a lot of young players very well, but there are many players who could have done a lot with this kind of sponsorship. This is my honest opinion.”

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Pakistani Squash Community Slams Controversial Zakaria Sponsorship