With steps being taken by the football federation, Pakistani football finally seems to be headed in the right direction…
As if football wasn’t already suffering in Pakistan due to the lack of good leadership, infrastructure, and wastage of talent, the suspension of the Pakistan Football Federation at the hands of FIFA due to in-house fighting made matters even worse. For three long years, the players and the fans alike suffered while those in the PFF house fought with each other to gain power. Now, finally, there seems to be light at the end of that long, dark tunnel. The suspension has been lifted and Pakistan’s Football Federation has restarted its operations – but that is not the only thing that has given football fanatics in the country some hope.
Despite the suspension, there have been major developments in the field of football in the past year. Coca-Cola brought the FIFA World Cup trophy to Pakistan in collaboration with FIFA. Prior to that, Leisure Leagues brought some of the most iconic players in footballing history to Pakistan. This paved the way for the fans to show their love for the beautiful game. Several other initiatives across the nation to start football leagues at a grass roots level, including Leisure Leagues and Nestlé, have allowed people to play the game as frequently and commonly as cricket – on a larger scale than ‘amateur’ football.
With all this momentum, PFF has stepped back into the ring as well. Determined to make up for the lost years and the dismal ranking, the federation is taking some drastic steps to ensure that the revival of that game on an official level is swift and efficient; ideally bearing fruit sooner rather than later. One of the very first steps the federation has taken is to assemble a squad that can compete at the top level. In order to accomplish this, the PFF officials have widened their circle of research. They have ventured farther than ever before to find talent, recruiting players playing in foreign leagues.
The scouts have been busy assessing players playing in some of Europe’s lesser known leagues – including talented individuals like Ghayas Zahid playing for APOEL in the Cypriot First Division, Adil Nabi playing for Peterborough United in English League One, Etzaz Hussain playing for Molde FK in Norway, Adnan Muhammad playing in the Danish Superliga, Easah Suliman playing for Aston Villa, and Otis Khan playing in the English League Two.
History was made for Pakistan football in the first round of Champions League fixtures 🇵🇰 pic.twitter.com/duvOVqfjY6
— B/R Football (@brfootball) September 15, 2017
Finding that perfect blend of talent groomed both inside and outside the country would be extremely beneficial for the team going forward. However, that is not the only positive step the federation has taken in recent times. In order to make sure that the talent being searched for is groomed properly for the international stage, PFF has announced the appointment of Brazilian coach Jose Antonio Nogueira as head coach of the national team. This seems to be a big step up from the national team’s former coaches – the most recent example being Muhammad Shamlan, the former Bahraini international.
PFF took a similar step towards improvement in the past with the appointment of Graham Roberts, the former England and Tottenham Hotspur player. Sadly, that turned out to be more of a PR stunt than anything else as he left the job less than six months after his appointment. Hopefully, the appointment of a veteran coach like Jose Antonio will help take the national team in the right direction for upcoming events; the most imminent of which is the SAFF Football Championship in 2020. This tournament will be one of the three regional tournaments that Pakistan will get to host between 2019 and 2021 – with the other two events said to be the South Asian U15 Championship in 2019 and the U19 Girls’ Championship in 2021, according to sources within PFF.
With these steps already being taken by the federation and more on the cards, Pakistani football finally seems like it’s heading in the right direction. So let’s hope these efforts are not derailed or tarnished by anyone inside or outside the PFF. Averting such controversies will ensure that the development of football gets the attention it rightfully deserves.