Squash’s Latest Villain: Dirty Play By Asal?

If you follow squash at the highest level you will probably be familiar with Mostafa Asal, one of the arguably most talented young male players on the professional circuit.

Unfortunately, controversy follows Asal from his chest-baring soccer/football-player-like over-the-top victory celebrations to some questionable on-court blocking. But is it arrogance and cheating, or passion and nitpicking?

Other Players Are Also Guilty Fans Argue

In World Squash Rules, the rules state that after completing a reasonable follow-through, a player must make every effort to clear, so that when the ball rebounds from the front wall the opponent has unobstructed direct access to the ball. However, like most sports, there are grey areas.

If you play a loose ball (ie. a ball that pops out into the middle of the court), a ref is less likely to give you a let if your opponent hardly has to move off the T position to hit the shot. You are being punished by not hitting a shot forcing your opponent on the T. But when is blocking ok?

One of the most commented aspects of Asal’s blocking game is a back leg that he tends to throw backward sometimes tripping or blocking his opponents as he moves back to the T. He is a big man and he can certainly make user of his size to cause problems for his opponent. There are a few examples here in this short video most notably the first clip in the traditional (non-glass) court:

Whether or not you think these tactics are actually “dirty” may depend on your view on sportsmanship in the game.

AR performance presents an interesting discussion in the following video on the subtleties of taking up space on the court and using it to your advantage depending on what your values are by analyzing a game between Paul Coll and Mohamed El Shorbagy starting at 12:45 in this video.

Asal fans who don’t deny that Asal is deliberately blocking point out other players have also used some grey-area on-court tactics to covertly block their opponents. They believe Asal is being unfairly targeted and punished for behavior that not only may have been unintentional but also behavior that other players got away with in the past. The El Shorbagy brothers have both been mentioned.

Asal Grows Up

Nonetheless, Asal’s reputation for poor sportsmanship has been building for some time. When he started to play on the PSA Tour rumours suggested the influence of his father contributed to the pressure to win at all costs. In fact, Asal’s father was recently banned from attending any PSA tournaments until November 29, 2023, following a formal investigation into his behavior during the CIB Egyptian Open in September 2022.(1). Rumour is that is was due to a courtside confrontation with one of the major squash benefactors, CIB Bank.

SEE FROM VILLIAN TO HERO, MOSTAFA ASAL’S JOURNEY TO REDEMPTION.

The thought at the time was that Asal was still young and some leniency should be given. But since then the prevailing attitude has shifted. Squash cannot afford to look the other way. At age 22, regardless of external pressures, Asal is responsible for his own moral choices and must bear the consequences. Asal was officially warned about future conduct ⁽²⁾ Asal was then banned from the tour for two months following some ‘on-court disciplinary matters’. ⁽³⁾ And then again disqualified for hospitalizing Lucas Serme but hitting him with a ball in the head.⁽⁴⁾

Whether or not he meant to hit Lucan Serme with the ball it was a shot PSA deemed should not have been played. Asal was penalized with two separate breaches of the PSA Code of Conduct under a section in the code relating to “dangerous play” with a £2,000 fine and a 6-week ban from the PSA (Professional Squash Association) World Tour just last March in 2023 for behavior that occurred during the 2022 CIB Egyptian Open. (4) Squash fans hoped that these bans would be a wake-up call would be enough to correct his ways.

New Videos Surface Less Than a Month After Ban Lifted

In May 2023 the second ban was lifted. Less than a month later, videos surfaced on social media creating questions about the intention behind opponent interference. These videos move beyond blocking, but the question remains, are they deliberate or not?

Holding

Interestingly the hand grabbing is extremely difficult to see from behind. If you watch the highlights of this match in the 5th game at 10-10 is all but invisible. However, this video surfaced after the match and looks much different seen through a front angle slow-motion shot. Those who dislike Asal are calling for another ban. Click through to Reddit to see both videos. They have since disappeared from YouTube.

Chop to the Head

Here again, in the video below there is more controversial behavior during another recent match with Joel Makin. Intentional or not, some viewers believe that players at this level know exactly what they are doing with their racquets.

There is something very unsettling about this video if Asal’s behavior is in fact, as suggested, deliberate. Using your racquet to hit a player on the head feels like a step across a line, one driven by a passive-aggressive intent to harm, a toxic and unhealthy way to deal with frustration.

Looking at the muscles flexed in his arm and the tilt of his head, he certainly looks like he intends to bring the racquet down. He had to have known where Makin was, but at the same time, things happen in a blink of an eye, there is no time for conscious thought.

What is fascinating is how Asal’s eyes are closed during the racquet hand grab with Hesham and during the “chop” to Makin’s head for what seems to be much longer than a blink. According to an excerpt from Excerpted from SPY THE LIE: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Detect Deception on parade.com deceptive people will hide or even close their eyes.

Commentators Joey Barrington and Lee Drew who have seen and commentated on thousands of matches suggest his actions are deliberate.

And then more recently we see something similar, where Asal received a conduct stroke for grabbing Elias’s “racquet” when in fact it was the wrist/hand that was held back.

The concern from those who think it’s intentional is the influence it may have on young players looking up to Asal and wanting to be just like him. And with his incredible talent, these tactics seem to be unnecessary.

On the other hand, as the wrestling world has capitalized on so well, there is nothing we like so much, as a villain we can dislike.

If you are interested in this article you might be interested in this article about Asal from FROM VILLIAN TO HERO, MOSTAFA ASAL’S JOURNEY TO REDEMPTION.

References

(1) Mostafa Asal’s father banned from PSA Tour, Dalr, Mike, Squash Mad, Thursday, May 18, 2023, retrieved Thursday, May 18, 2023, from https://squashmad.com/featured/mostafa-asals-father-banned-from-psa-tour/

(2) Disciplinary Update, retrieved Thursday, May 18, 2023, from PSA World Tour, posted 3 December 2020, from https://www.psaworldtour.com/news/disciplinary-update-5/

(3)Asal Accepts Two-Month Suspension, posted 11 January 2022, retrieved Thursday, May 18, 2023, from https://www.psaworldtour.com/news/asal-accepts-two-month-suspension/

(4) Mostafa Asal Handed Six-Week Suspension, PSA World Tour, Posted 20 March 2023, retrieved Thursday, May 18, 2023, from https://www.psaworldtour.com/featured-news/mostafa-asal-handed-six-week-suspension-2/