It’s no surprise that Pakistan has been missing the world football stage for years. Many questions and controversies have been thrown around regarding the potential of Pakistan’s national football team, but what is the real truth behind the team’s failure?
Background
Football in Pakistan is as old as Pakistan itself. The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) was formed in 1947 and received official recognition by FIFA in 1948.
Pakistan’s national football team started facing off international teams such as Iran and Iraq in 1950. In 1954, they played at the Asian Games in Manila and in 1958 they also participated in the Tokyo Asian Games.
So what’s the problem?
The problems started after 1958 when the Pakistan Football Federation’ (PFF) participation in international competitions dwindled. Adding to this, according to the FIFA world ranking since 1993, when Pakistan ranked #142 on the world stage the team has steadily declined to #201in 2018.
“Pakistan has yet to qualify for a single world cup. The major problems are; lack of financial support from the government, mismanagement and corruption”.
Giving some credit to the PFF, a league for football clubs called Pakistan Premier League (PPL) was launched in 2004. It strived towards betterment until 2014, when the piling allegations of corruption, underfunding and lack of management on the part of players and fans decided the fate of the league—PPL was disbanded in 2014— and since then there have been no talks of reviving the league back.
The biggest blow to the future of football in Pakistan came when FIFA decided to suspend the PFF on the 11th of October 2017. FIFA decided to take action due to undue third party interference and violation of other FIFA Statutes. Following the suspension from FIFA the PFF lost all credibility, Pakistani team wasn’t allowed to participate in any Asian football events or development programs.
Is there a solution?
The ban and suspension of PFA from FIFA was lifted on 13th March 2018 which is a positive gesture for future of football in Pakistan.
Pakistan has unlimited talent and potential to produce high quality athletes who can compete on the world stage and the Pakistan national cricket team which currently stands at the 5th position of ICC ranking and Pakistan national field hockey team that stands at 13th number show Pakistan’s potential to achieve the world records in sports.
Few solutions are proposed for the revival of football game in Pakistan.
- The board and committee of PFF need to be built of professionals, so that the issues of corruption and mismanagement can be combated.
- Football as a sport needs to be promoted via government programs starting at schools, colleges, and universities.
- Funding for PFF needs to be on equal footings with the Pakistan
- PPL needs to be given a second chance with new management in tow and a brand new strategy to tackle the previous problems.
Now you might be thinking that it’s easier said than done to which I would respond there is no problem for which a solution can’t be achieved with some effort and hard work. Although, achieving this will take some time but if Pakistan can produce half of the world’s footballs and maintain a high standard in the production prompting FIFA to use them in the World cup matches since the 1990’s, we can surely produce capable football players to represent Pakistan.
If Pakistan finds a way to tackle all these problems step by step, we can surely make our presence in the World cup. Right now, the chances of Pakistan qualifying for the next football world cup in Qatar might look bleak but there is still hope. If we, as a nation, rally around and make some changes, FIFA might as well consider us as a host for the world cup in the future.
Wishing the Pakistani football team all the good luck for their future endeavors.