Today (Saturday, August 2), the joyful news has arrived that Pakistan’s under-sixteen football team has won first place in Norway’s international football tournament, competing among teams from 35 countries. This was no ordinary team. A few football-loving entrepreneurs based in Norway – Suleman Sarwar, Farooq Ansari, and Muhammad Imran – came up with a unique idea to uplift Pakistan’s name and then committed themselves to realizing it.
They registered an organization in Norway called “Better Future”, and selected Lyari – one of the most underprivileged areas of Karachi – as their focus (interestingly, none of the three men are from Lyari; they’re originally from District Gujrat). Using their personal funds, they established a football club in Lyari. In a remarkable move, they selected children from some of the poorest families (street children) purely on merit, gave them six to eight months of training, and then made the bold decision to enter them into Norway’s international tournament.
This was no easy feat for the children of Lyari – children who had never even seen all of Karachi were now standing in Norway, facing teams from 35 countries across the world. But merit, hard work, skill, and the sincerity of the Better Future coordinators bore fruit, and with trust in God, the team went on to win match after match.
Alkhidmat Europe (Norway) has been the sponsor of this team since last year. Besides providing facilities, they also promote the team in Norway. On July 25, after Friday prayers, Alkhidmat Europe hosted a warm welcome ceremony for the team at the Islamic Culture Centre in Oslo, attended by officials from the Pakistan Embassy, ICC President Syed Rizwan, renowned scholar Maulana Mehboob ur Rehman, President of Alkhidmat Europe Abdul Wahab, and other notable figures. Alkhidmat’s General Secretary Waqas Jafri and I also had the opportunity to attend this event, as we both happened to be present in Norway that day.
The tournament was played over eight days across 120 different football grounds in Norway. In today’s final match, Pakistan emerged victorious with a score of 2-0.
Congratulations to the brilliant and underprivileged children of Lyari (Karachi), the Better Future Norway team, Alkhidmat Europe, and Islamic Culture Centre officials. The Pakistani nation can achieve great things through better coordination, merit-based selection, hard work, and talent.