Speaking to Daily Scoop TV, Waseem, who is originally from Quetta, recalled his early days training at facilities he claimed were not properly outfitted by national and local boxing associations, lacking proper gear or nutrition for their fighters, and often without electricity.
"There were so many mosquitos we could have sparred with them," he said, while referring to the training facilities.
He also claimed that an unnamed president of the PBF had demanded 20 per cent of all of Waseem's earnings, when the fighter approached the PBF about an early opportunity to compete internationally.
The PBF is the national government body for boxing in Pakistan and also a member Federation of Asian Amateur Boxing (FAAB). In March 2021, the PBF was rejected by the International Amateur Boxing Federation (A.I.B.A), to which it had previously been a member.
Waseem's comments highlight the difficulties many athletes in Pakistan face. Pakistan has won a total of ten Olympic medals. Boxer Syed Hussain Shah, one of the few Pakistani athletes to have won an individual medal at the Olympics, won a bronze medal at the summer games in South Korea in 1994.
In the most recent Olympic games, Pakistan sent ten athletes to Tokyo - seven men and three women.