SPORTS WORLD: Lyariites mourn Brazil's defeat: PFF striving to develop football on modern lines

The recently concluded 18th World Cup has generated heat among the football fans in the country. The craze for the game can be judged from sentiments of the football followers in Karachi's Lyari area, as the soccer fans could not swallow the defeat of Brazil and observed a three-day-mourning when Brazil failed to qualify for semi-final of the mega event.
Keeping in mind the popularity of the game among the masses, it is time for the top brass in the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) to take revolutionary steps to bring back the game on the right track. During the last over two decades, football suffered badly due to power struggle in the PFF, although the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) provided financial and technical support to the PFF.
In the recent past, the then Lever Brothers also provided massive financial support to the PFF to organise the game at the grassroots level and hold tournaments at district, regional, provincial and national level, but soon the sponsorship was withdrawn, as the sponsors realised that spending huge amount was nothing but a sheer waste of money, as the vested interests in the game's controlling body were least interested to popularise the game of the common man in the country.
With the change of hands, it seems the PFF is really interested in doing something positive for the game of the masses.
Commenting on the decline in the standard of football, Pakistan's status in the soccer world and pathetic conditions of the players, PFF President Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat said: " There is no dearth of talent in the country. What we need is to build a strong infrastructure to develop the game at the grassroots level as we believe that we are capable of making our presence felt in the soccer world.
"For the last two years, the PFF has been striving to really develop and grow football in Pakistan. As a result, Pakistan have improved their FIFA ranking from 177th to 153rd and are also among the region's best five football teams.
PFF CUP:
With successful holding of the sixth edition of PFF Cup, 2006 tournament in which 15 top teams of the country participated, it is hoped the PFF will keep the momentum of reviving the most ignored game.
The local football fans have welcomed the PFF initiative to re-introduce the tier II premier league tournament, which was launched in 1992, but was suspended after the next two editions in 1993 and 1994 for reasons better known to the then PFF Officials.
The two editions of PFF Cup in 2004 and 2005, organised by the current PFF set-up, proved to be a big success. The Federation Internationale de Football Associations (FIFA) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) too appreciated the PFF for the smooth running of two-tier national league and reserved the berth for Pakistani champion in the annual AFC President's Cup.
MUNICH MOOT:
The PFF President, who attended the 56th FIFA Congress held in Munich on June 7 and 8, had useful meetings with FIFA President Joseph Sepp Blatter and Secretary General Urs Linsi, besides delegation of some of 207 nations affiliated with the FIFA, including Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Vice-President Vernon Manilal Fernando.
During the meeting with Fernando, the PFF President was assured that the FIFA would review five football-related projects in the areas, which were badly hit in the earthquake. Fernando assured Faisal Saleh Hayat that FIFA and AFC would provide 700,000 dollars for football-related facilities in the quake-hit areas.
Of the 700,000 dollars, 200,000 dollars would be provided by the AFC. This amount could be increased to 10,00,000 dollars, the PFF President was assured.
The FIFA chief also promised to provide help in the rehabilitation work, being carried out for the survivors of this natural calamity, and disclosed that he would visit Pakistan after Eid-ul-Fitr on October 24 to inaugurate Lahore's FIFA Football House.
The FIFA has contributed 460,000 dollars for the construction of FIFA House, and is willing to extend financial support to the PFF for building another project. Blatter, Linsi and AFC President Mohamed bin Hammam said the PFF had earned a good reputation by hosting international meets and that was why the soccer's ruling body had allocated the third edition of AFC President Cup 2007 to Pakistan, which would go a long way in the promotion of football in the country. Asia's eight prominent clubs will be taking part in the event.
ASIAN CUP:
Meanwhile, the PFF will be hosting the third Pakistan-Oman international soccer clash of the Group "C" match of 14th Asian Cup Football qualifiers on August 16 at Islamabad. Pakistan will appear in their third of the six matches in (Group-C).
Originally, the tournament was scheduled at Quetta, but AFC President Mohamed bin Hammam changed the venue as Quetta lacked facilities of floodlight.
The PFF hosted Pakistan-India clash in 2005 plus the AFC's events in 1986 and 1990. For the first time in the PFF history, Islamabad's Jinnah Stadium, where Pakistan won the SAF Games gold twice, will be the venue for Asian Cup showpiece event of the AFC. The first international match between Pakistan and Oman was played at the National Cricket Stadium, Karachi, when the two countries met in the second Quaid-i-Azam International Tournament, ending 0-0 on February 24, 1982. The second encounter saw Oman winning 3-1 in 10th Seoul Asian Games Football event (Group-1) on September 27, 1986.