PST Player Stephane Galifi Reportedly Barred From This Weekend's Pittsburgh PST Open
from DailySquashReport.com
November 10, 2012 - Italian player Stephane Galifi, who is currently under a two-year World Squash Federation suspension resulting from failing a drug test while playing on the PSA tour, was reportedly denied permission Thursday to compete at the Rivers Club of Pittsburgh, the site of this weekend's PST Pittsburgh Open.
Galifi joined the PST tour in September and has played events in Cleveland and Maine.
The Pro Squash Tour has maintained that it is not under the jurisdiction of the World Squash Federation and that a banned PSA player can compete on its tour.
A spokesman for Pittsburgh Squash told DSR: "Due to a current ban from professional squash competition, Mr. Galifi will not be participating in this year's event."
The World Squash Federation adheres to the guidelines of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
600 sports bodies, including the PSA, the WSA and the International Tennis Federation follow the WADA Anti-Doping Code.
The PST issued the following statement:
The draw was re-seeded Thursday night. "This is not our protocol," said PST Commissioner Joe McManus. "However, there were extenuating circumstances.
"At the urging of US Squash and World Squash, Stephane Galifi was denied permission to compete at the club," noted McManus. "I don't fully understand, at this moment, what happened. But it appears the CEO's of US Squash and World Squash surreptitiously contacted the host club and interfered with our tournament."
Galifi is a player in good standing with PST, which is its own sanctioning body. PST tournaments are not sanctioned by either US Squash or World Squash Federation.
"I do not understand why the leaders of those two organizations chose to interfere with our event. Nor do I understand why they chose to contact the host site instead of PST staff.
"At the conclusion of the tournament, I will seek to learn why US Squash and World Squash meddled with an event beyond their purview."
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