KARACHI: Renowned football statistician and media manager of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) Syed Akber Ali Wahidi died on Monday at his hotel room in Faisalabad due to cardiac failure. He was 53. He leaves behind wife and a 13-year old son Ahmed Ali Wahidi in his immediate family to mourn his death. His body was scheduled to be shifted from Lahore to Karachi on late Monday night. His Namaz-i-Janaza will be held here at the Masjid-e-Aqsa in Nazimabad after Asr prayers on Tuesday (today). Akber Wahidi was covering the NBP Football Cup 2011 in Faisalabad and was found dead in his hotel room at 9:06am on Monday. The story of the NBP Football Cup semifinal between KRL and Army proved to be his last one which he had sent at 7:00pm to the reporters on Sunday evening. He also had a chat with his wife in Karachi on Sunday night and had told her that he would be heading home soon after the final on April 27. His demise has left the country’s football fraternity shell-shocked. The PFF top officials including president Faisal Saleh Hayat, secretary Col Ahmed Yar Khan Lodhi, Director Operations Pervez Saeed Mir, Director Youth Development and Grassroots Siddique Shaikh, Manager referees Qazi Asif, chairman Sindh Football Association (SFA) Ghulam Abbas Baloch, Sindh Sports Minister Mohammad Ali Shah, Secretary Sports Shoaib Siddiqui and secretary of the Pakistan Football Referees Association Ahmed Ali have expressed deep grief and sorrow over the sad demise of Akber Wahidi and have prayed for the departed soul in their separate messages. He had been associated with the PFF as media manager since 2004. Born on August 7, 1957, in Lahore, Akber Wahidi had a degree in Civil Engineering from NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi but did not pursue career in it and rather opted to associate with football in different capacities due to his adoration for the ‘beautiful game’. He was considered a great statistician and an encyclopedia in football circles and the way he served the game as a writer will never be forgotten. In 2003 he shot into fame when he wrote to FIFA to correct their record books for the fastest goal scored from kick-off in the FIFA World Cups in 1962, 1982 and 2002. While appreciating his meritorious services, last year, he was also sent a special ticket by FIFA to watch the World Cup in South Africa. His fine features on football in the Monthly Magazine ‘Khel ki Dunya’ of the now late sports journalist Allauddin Ghauri had made him very popular. He was also acting as Executive Editor of the Karachi-based magazine ‘Monthly Football’. He was also offered by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) but he did not accept their offers and rather stuck to football.
