International footballers Ricardo Kaka, Luis Figo, Carlos Puyoul and Nicolas Anelka’s trip to Pakistan has been postponed, World Soccer Stars said in a statement on Tuesday. “World Soccer Stars tour has taken a strategic decision based on financial reasons to postpone the World Soccer Stars 2019 Pakistan tour featuring Ricardo Kaka, Luis Figo, Carles Puyol, Nicholas Anelka and international artist Akon,” the statement said. The statement further said the decision to postpone has not been taken lightly, given the enthusiasm of the Pakistan football fans when the players visited the country to launch the tour during the first few months of 2019. “The excitement of the fans was genuine and was truly heartfelt by the players and has only served to motivate us to conduct the tour later in 2019. The interest shown by brands, the media, the army and national and local government was appreciated. After a review of the situation we took this decision taking into account several factors including the change in the local business economy since the tour was announced, the wish of certain key brands to align the tour with their commercial plans,” the statement further said.
The new tour date will be announced after Eid-ul-Fitr along with details regarding the refunding of tickets. World Soccer Stars is a tour that remains committed to promoting the development of football in Pakistan, as was shown by the events in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. The recent national trials held in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Quetta and Lahore in association with Total Football proved the appetite for such a tour. The regional winners from these trials will take part in the national finals later in the year with the winners getting the opportunity to play with the international legends at the World Soccer Stars event, it further said.