Ex-national footballer urges steps to revive football in Pakistan

PESHAWAR: Former national footballer Shahid Khan Shinwari Saturday offered to the normalisation committee formed by FIFA for running the affairs of the Pakistan Football Federation to conduct Pakistan Football League with the help of Argentinian Ambassador to Pakistan.

Talking to reporters at the Peshawar Sports Complex, Shahid Khan Shinwari suggested holding the Pakistan Football League in all four provinces, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He said the Pakistan Football League would once again revive the sports in the country wherein hundreds of players of the four provinces including a team each from Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir would be facilitated. “Our youth badly needs the sports opportunities, including football in Pakistan and holding of Pakistan Football League means football to be promoted in every nook and corner of Pakistan,” Shahid Khan said.

He said due to internal politics the sports of football had suffered and the players associated with this game since long had no option but to leave football, which was causing great damage to the overall football status.

Shahid Khan, who also remained as Secretary General of the Fata Olympic Association, had organised scores of sporting activities in the past including four KP Governor League, an International Football Cup wherein for the first time in the history, foreign football players from Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal visited Peshawar and participated in the KP Governor Football Super League.

He said that football league matches would take place in Peshawar, Lahore, Karachi and Quetta, for which the normalisation committee was planning, if it gave the green signal, further work would be done on it.

“The purpose of this initiative is to provide opportunities to the players to come forward,” Shahid Khan said. It is hoped that the committee authorities would definitely think in this regard and ensure the holding of the football league in Pakistan.

He said talks had already been held with the Argentinean Ambassador to Pakistan and he had agreed to support Pakistan football by providing coaches, trainers before ensuring an opportunity to our young footballers to visit Argentina for the football league.

He said the programme with Pak-Argentina would be started by a series between the footballers of the two countries in Pakistan and then in Argentina.

He said by June 1, 2023, he was going to meet with the Argentinian Football Officials in Islamabad and Lahore to discuss the exchange of football players’ visits to Pakistan and Argentina.