Daily Times

Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani on Wednesday said concrete and practical measures were required for promotion of football in the country.

“There is a need to resolve the administrative issues and having an active interaction with FIFA in this regard. A representative delegation of Pakistan would meet the FIFA administration to apprise the sports body of the ground realities of football in the country.”

He expressed these views while presiding over a special committee of Senate constituted for promotion of football in the country. The meeting was attended by Senators Dr. Asad Ashraf, Mirza Muhammad Afridi, Ahmed Khan , Barrister Muhammad Ali Khan Saif, Ishfq Hussain Shah President Pakistan Football Federation(PFF), Director General Pakistan Sports Board Arif Ibrahim and representatives of different organizations associated with football.

The Senate chairman said that the internal disputes must be resolved for promotion of football in addition to provision of quality infrastructures and organizing regular tournaments to create awareness about this all important sports. He further said that not only the Pakistan Football Federation and Pakistan Sports Board should collaborate their efforts but the private sector should also be involved to steer the agenda of enhancing the game of football in the country. He said that first priority is seeking the cooperation of private sector for developing the sports infrastructure and organizing football tournaments across the country with the financial assistance of corporate sector. He directed PFF to prepare a practical action plan and calendar of events for the proposed tournaments. He further directed PSB to fully cooperate with federation with provision of sports grounds as well as an office to the PFF in Islamabad. The meeting was apprized that on the directions of Supreme Court of Pakistan elections of the federation were held and a new body was elected. The President PFF Ishfaq Hussain Shah informed the meeting that different issues have been discussed with FIFA, however, the international sports body needs to be apprised of the ground realities of the situation of football in Pakistan.

Speaking on the occasion Senator Ahmed, DR. Asad Ashraf and Mirza Muhammad Afridi opined that we must come out of the internal disputes and devise a way forward for the promotion of football involving all the stakeholders and ensuring better working relationship among different organizations.