ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: More than seven million people in Pakistan play football, the Chairman of the FIFA-appointed Normalization Committee (FNC) Haroon Ahmed Malik told President Dr. Arif Alvi.
Along with Members of Pakistan’s National Men’s and Women’s Football teams, Haroon Ahmed Malik briefed the president at Aiwa-e-Sadr in Islamabad on Wednesday, saying that FNC is making efforts to improve the functioning and administration of Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) through the FNC.
Haroon Ahmed informed that Women’s National Team (WNT) played their first international game in eight years and Men’s National Team (MNT) played their first international game in four years.
It was further stated that so far almost 4,600 Football Clubs from 163 districts of the Country have been registered and the documentation and physical scrutiny process would be completed within the given timelines.
It was further told that MNT would participate in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and WNT would play in the Olympics Qualifiers for Paris 2024 this year.
صدر مملکت ڈاکٹر عارف علوی سے پاکستان کی قومی مرد اور خواتین فٹ بال ٹیموں کے ارکان کی ملاقات
ملاقات میں فیفا کی مقرر کردہ نارملائزیشن کمیٹی کے چیئرمین ہارون احمد ملک اور اراکین کی شرکت
ملک میں فٹ بال کے فروغ کیلئے بین الاقوامی معیار اپنانے کی ضرورت ہے، صدر مملکت pic.twitter.com/KvoyO3o7OJ
— The President of Pakistan (@PresOfPakistan) February 22, 2023
Talking to the delegation, President Arif Alvi urged the need to incentivize the football players and promote football in the Country by adopting international best practices in the field of football.
The president called for developing linkages with international partners and promoting public-private partnerships, besides providing better training facilities and coaching to the football players.
Dr. Arif Alvi said that the FIFA-appointed Normalization Committee for the PFF should speed up its efforts to streamline the issues related to football affairs in the Country.
The president said that the sport of Football is quite popular in Pakistan and there are millions of football fans in the Country, adding that football should be promoted at the district and club levels.
The president advised the athletes to make their Country proud through their performance and work for improving the Country’s image as they aere Pakistan’s ambassadors in the field of sports.
Furthermore, he remarked that he ha high hopes from the players to lead Pakistan in regional and international competitions.
The president regretted that the internal politics within the Pakistan Football Federation has affected its performance.
President Arif Alvi expressed the hope that with the help of the FIFA-appointed Normalization Committee, there would be a visible improvement in the performance of PFF.
