World squash No.1 Mostafa Asal faced a tour disciplinary hearing on the day of his semi-final defeat at the Canary Wharf Classic, Squash Mad can reveal.
The Egyptian 21-year-old met with Professional Squash Association (PSA) officials on Thursday before losing to Wales’ Joel Makin at East Wintergarden.
The PSA could announce its decision early next week, it is understood, but declined to comment to Squash Mad on Friday, as well as the contents of the hearing.
In January 2022, Asal accepted a two-month suspension from the PSA, following on-court disciplinary matters. “Mr Asal apologises for his conduct and will be working with the PSA moving forward to ensure that such issues do not reoccur,” a statement read at the time.
However, a second hearing in over a year could land the young squash star in yet more hot water.
Asal has endured a controversial 2022/23 season on the PSA World Tour, which has seen him disqualified from the US Open after opponent Lucas Serme was hospitalised.
He has also received short shrift from fellow professionals for some of his on-court behaviour, with unease continuing at the Canary Wharf Classic this week, while controversy is never far away during his matches.
Following his defeat to Makin in London, Asal cryptically tweeted: “Those who wronged will know which way to turn.”
In January, Asal’s father, Mahmoud, was suspended from attending any PSA tournaments until November “following a formal investigation into his behaviour during the CIB Egyptian Open in September 2022.”
He is well and truly being victimised by the establishment. Just because he is different and with less PR support, does not mean he has to be hounded.
Ban this cheater.
I hardly think it is victimisation, he is clearly very talented but he is always stepping over the rules and trying to intimidate his opponents and referees, his antics are disrespectful. He should let his talent do the talking, instead of being controversial he could be regarded as one of the greats of the game
Ban him for life. His conduct is corrosive.
He needs to be banned for life for good of the game. Absolutely disgusting to watch
Here is a young talented player who truly deserves his world n.1 ranking. Though immature on and off court, he does not deserve the harassment he is constantly subject to. If PSA investigates anything, they should also investigate a shockingly biased refeering in favor in Makin at Canary Wharf. At last, as long as there is non slander or libel, any player should possess the freedom of expression as granted by law and it is not the PSA’s role, scope and much less competence to restrict such basic right!
Strange thing about all of this is not even a hint of what exactly led to the upcoming ban; what incident or incidents is this particular ban related to?
His attitude will take him no where, he needs to be tamed. Squash is an elite sport, he shouldn’t dishonour it with his silly childish antics
Watch Coll vs Farag in London last week at canary wharf in the semi.. now that’s 2 very professional squash players having an awesome match! Asal should watch and learn ..
Different😂😂
Oh boy! Elite sport my ass. More like posh exclusive sport. Lets and strokes given at referee’s whim with no real recourse even after a match. Referees can ruin players and i have never heard of any of them being disciplined!! But yes, go for the low hanging fruit
Wow
I like having Asal in the sport. He creates a lot of excitement and has immense talent. He just needs to grow up and be less intimidating and more respectful on court.
I feel like Asal is now actually being referreed unfairly but he deserves it because he has brought it on himself.
If you talk to pros, you’ll learn he’s been a dirty player and a cheater since junior squash. I’ve personally seen him intentionally break his eye guards when he played a pro event as a junior in order to go off court and buy time when he was tired and losing. In the same event he threatened a referee after he lost the semifinal, and was seen on the phone receiving coaching when he was supposed to be off court replacing an apparent broken racquet that he never actually showed to the ref before leaving the court. These are all examples of cheating and bad conduct.
He also blocks and initiates contact constantly. He hasn’t improved much at all despite discipline and a terrible reputation. He is bad for squash and I really hope we don’t have to watch this sort of behaviour for the next decade or more. It’s a shame the PSA promotes him on the website and in video content. They fail to realize he’s hurting the sport more than than helping it.
Maybe one of these days someone will give Asal what he deserves and teach him a real lesson. He’s a big guy but I have a feeling there are more than a few guys on tour who could handle him.