Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) is all set to launch 'Football for Peace' activity to provide coaching to more than 2,000 youngsters every year in the troubled areas of FATA, NWFP and Balochistan.
Pakistan has large pool of footballers and the number is growing with every passing day while FIFA and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) appreciated advancement in the game of soccer in the country, PFF President Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat said. Addressing a news conference after PFF Congress, here at FIFA Football House on Saturday that the PFF is ready to face challenges ahead in 2009.
Negotiations are underway to hire the services of well-known foreign coach for coming Pakistan Football Federation (PFF)'s assignments in international arena. The coaches from Britain, Brazil, Czech Republic, Hungary and Iran are in the final-seven list, he added. 'Our main target is to complete SAF Games hat-trick next year when Dhaka will stage 11th South Asian Games. We will develop strong Pakistan U-23 team to give us third gold on the trot after triumphs in 2004 and 2006', he added.
He said that the selected coach will not only look after National Football Team but also take care of Dhaka-bound team and Guangzhou's 16th Asian Games 2010 team. "PFF will ink 3-year contract with coach whose salary will be minimum of US $10,000 per month", he added.
Faisal said: "The standard of football in the country is enhancing day by day and AFC in recognition of PFF's fine display included us in Vision Asia through which we will get increased financial and technical support."
He said Vision Asia is the AFC's grand plan for a continent-wide programme to raise the standards of Asian football at all levels, be it on the field of play, administration or sports science. AFC has already recruited experts with specialist skills in eleven disciplines related with the Programme. This will suit us and help us going towards professionalism, he added.
Faisal further said that PFF's annual budget is lurking around Rs 40 million, clearly unrivalled with over Rs 800 million annual budget of All India Football Federation (AIFF). "Yet we keep on producing sensational results as compared to our neighbours. We overwhelmed Kyrgyzstan, Chinese Taipei, Turkmenistan, Singapore, India, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Nepal and drew with Iraq, Iran, Oman and Bahrain in recent events. We bagged our fourth gold in SAF Games history in 2006, outpacing India's three, he said.