PFF considering holding club, departmental leagues

LAHORE: Having failed to conduct any premier domestic event during the last four years Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) Normalisation Committee is mulling options to hold the premier club league and departmental league in order to develop football in the country.

A senior member of the PFF NC Shahid Niaz Khokhar on Wednesday told ‘The News’ that PFF is seriously considering holding the premier events at the club and departmental level.

“We are also working on how to hold futsal events for both men and women footballers,” Shahid was quick to add.

“As far as the club league is concerned so its first round has already been held in the shape of the district club championships which also served as club scrutiny in recent months,” Shahid said.

“In certain areas the quality of the competition needs improvement. The second round will provide a good opportunity to enhance the quality level. We will get district champions clubs through the second round across Pakistan and then in the third round the club competition at the provincial level will be held, featuring top clubs of the federating units,” Shahid said.

“And then we will pick one or two top clubs from each province and regions for the premier club event which will be conducted by the PFF. Various options are under discussion whether the premier club league should be on home and away basis, or it should be on single league basis or it should be conducted in the shape of a tournament. Soon we will reach a conclusion keeping in view its feasibility,” Shahid said.

“NC’s chairman Haroon Malik believes in the devolution of power and creation of an enabling environment at regional levels and NC would like the districts and provincial set-ups to hold the next two rounds before PFF takes up the responsibility of holding the premier event which may comprise over a dozen clubs,” Shahid said.

Shahid said that club league timeline will be kept as such so that the champions club could feature in the AFC event.

Shahid said that NC also wants to engage such professional companies so that they could study the various targets in professional way and evaluate them before its formal launch so that a durable structure could be made.

Shahid said that he hopes that such leagues would not only help promote football in the country but it will also help generate revenue for the PFF if they are conducted in a professional way.

Shahid said that he personally is very eager to have a club league in Pakistan which is the only way to develop the game.

He said that the PFF NC will also assist technically the clubs in fulfilling the requirements of club licensing as it is very important for a club to do so if it is to feature in the international circuit in future.

The PFF NC in a statement on Wednesday said that NC has announced a call for reputable advisory firms and consultants to assist in organizing a series of premier football and futsal competitions.

“This initiative aims to elevate the standard of football and futsal in Pakistan, with a comprehensive approach to managing the competitive bidding process,” the statement said.

“The upcoming competitions, which will be held under the PFF banner, include categories for both men and women.”