FIFA delegation and PFF officials discuss football’s future in Pakistan

RAJA RIAZ
In this file photo, members of local football association protest against the suspension of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) in Karachi on Oct. 15, 2017. (AFP)

LAHORE: Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) officials engaged in a brainstorming session with the two-member FIFA delegation currently visiting the country on Saturday to look at how to promote the sport in Pakistan.
In the past three years, the country’s football grounds were largely neglected after the international soccer body suspended Pakistan’s membership, making it impossible for the PFF to benefit from FIFA’s Forward Development Program.
However, the world football governing body recently lifted the ban on PFF after the federation’s legitimate management, headed by Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat, was restored by a court ruling.
FIFA has now consented to resume its development plan in Pakistan and, as the first step, the Asian Football Confederation has approved a grant of $300,000 for the restoration of the PFF headquarters, Football House.
To discuss the current state of the sport in the country, a two-member special delegation, headed by FIFA’s Regional Director for Asia and Oceania Sanjeevan Balasingam, arrived in Lahore on Friday.
The delegation discussed the world body’s Forward Development Program with the PFF president and other executive committee members.
According to the FIFA website, “FIFA Forward is a step change for global football development and the way we share the success of the FIFA World Cup with our member associations ... The aim is to improve the way we develop and support football across the globe, so that the sport can reach its potential in every nation and so that everyone that wants to take part can do so without barriers.”
The delegation visited Football House and examined the building’s dilapidated state.
According to FIFA’s website, the Forward Development Program gives “each association … access to $750,000 per year for football projects such as pitches, competitions and women’s football. And every association also receives up to $500,000 per year for running costs in areas including administration and governance.”