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Why
Pakistan need to focus on domestic cricket
Top coaches in Cup call-up conundrum The FIFA World Cup kicks off on June 11 in the scenic Soccer City stadium in Soweto, near Johannesburg. The final teams for the event, however, have to be decided a month before the event starts. With the amount of injuries, bust-ups between coaches and players, and form issues, the coaches of top national teams are facing a real selection dilemma in deciding which players to take to the spectacle and which to omit from their team rosters. akistan cricket: Dampened by self-infliction?By Dr Nauman Niaz As the Shoaib Malik-Sania Mirza wedding regressed into being a common story, Pakistan Cricket was in the middle of another scoop, Danish Kaneria was suspected for being allegedly involved in fixing a county match, as reported in English newspapers. It struck the already exasperating critiques like a sledgehammer. Why that is the West hasn't been really keen to take Pakistan cricketers seriously, incessantly seeing them with cynicism and suspicion.
Street children and the football World Cup Ahead of the FIFA World Cup which kicks off in June 2010, street children from eight countries of the globe got united in South Africa to demand their rights through the universal game of football. This initiative to hold the Deloitte Street Child World Cup was taken by a UK-based human rights charity organisation to use football as a global force of good for all and not just some.
Why Pakistan need to focus on domestic
cricket When Haroon Lorgat,
the International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive, was asked
during his The soft-spoken Lorgat was of the view that Pakistan should show the kind of patience and perseverance that helped the South Africans to while away the apartheid period and return to world cricket with a bang. The query fired at Lorgat was related to Pakistan and the fact that the country hasn't hosted any international cricket since their second Test against Sri Lanka was abandoned after the visiting team was attacked by terrorists in Lahore in March 2009. Foreign teams have since refused to tour Pakistan and it's quite likely that the country will be hosting any international cricket in the future. In a way, Pakistan
cricket is wrestling with the same problems once faced by South Africa.
In fact, cricket in South Africa was dogged by even bigger issues as the
country was thrown into isolation because of its racist regime and
wasn't even recognized by the world cricket community. Pakistan, on the other hand, has become a pariah of the cricket because of security-related reasons and not without reason. What Lorgat thought would be best for Pakistan in the current scenario is to learn from the South African example by solidifying its domestic cricket. The South Africans, once they knew that international cricket wasn't their cup of tea anymore diverted their funds, time and energy into boosting their domestic structure. In 1991, after spending more than two decades in international wilderness, when their team then known as the Springboks returned to the international stage they were almost as good as the other top sides. Are Pakistan's cricket chiefs doing the same? Not really. It's pretty unfortunate because they can actually use the current situation as a blessing in disguise and take steps to revamp or perhaps just rejuvenate domestic cricket in Pakistan. The overflowing
National Stadium for the RBS Twenty20 Cup matches here recently is a
clear proof that cricket-starved fans can be attracted to domestic
matches provided the conditions are right and the games are competitive. People at the helm of national cricket affairs might argue that there is nothing wrong with the existing system or may claim that appropriate steps are being taken to make it better, but it's apparent from the outcome of even our premier first-class events like the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy that our domestic system lacks a lot of much-needed ingredients. The problems Pakistan cricket faces at the international level like top players getting involved in disciplinary problems and exhibiting lack of grooming are clear proofs that there no proper pathways for our cricketers. Our selection criteria is far from satisfactory, our training models are mostly obsolete and our Game Development department is almost redundant. One had great
expectations from Aamir Sohail, the former Pakistan captain, when he
took over as the Director Game Development after quitting a lucrative
career as a TV expert. But the former Pakistan captain, who had made
ambitious plans to help revamp domestic cricket, fell out with the PCB
top brass and resigned. Before quitting, Aamir had prepared a
comprehensive document of more than 150 pages after interviewing
hundreds of 'stakeholders' including players, coaches umpires and
curators. "My plan focused on club cricket," he told 'The News on Sunday'. Australia has 4800 clubs with a small population and look where their cricket is at the moment. "In contrast, we don't have enough clubs. To add to our misery, most of our existing clubs are ghost clubs," he adds. But still Aamir is averse to the idea of too much scrutiny of the existing clubs and wants the PCB to give all of them an opportunity to prove they exist. "Whoever claims to have a club should get an opportunity to participate. Then there could be a relegation process with Division A and B. Then each year there can be promotions and demotions, according to performance. That would be the best scrutiny our Board can carry out," said Aamir whose blueprint for game development was never taken seriously by the PCB top management headed by the Board chairman Ijaz Butt. But Aamir is not discouraged and hopes someday, somebody will have the will to implement his plans for the betterment of Pakistan cricket. "The leading clubs can
have senior and junior leagues. Only A division clubs should have a
right to vote," he says.
"I had this formula for the academies as well. I wanted to create a pathway. I believe that one-third of the top uder-16 performers should go to under-19. Similarly the best 30 per cent of the top under-19s should go to under-23. From then on the best ones should get a chance to play first-class cricket. It will make our first-class events competitive. "For game development, my emphasis was that because coaching concept is relatively young in Pakistan we needed a few extra measures. Our coaches lack development and later wrongly guide the players. We wanted to create awareness among the players by making them attend coaches' courses. "To help our curators produce better tracks, I had proposed for the services of geologists. Then I had proposed for regular umpires' courses. I believe that we need capacity building of our coaches and referees and needed to take steps to achieve it." Aamir is of the view that the PCB will have to change its game plan. "The most important thing is that the PCB has given affiliation to districts but there is no criterion for it. You've given affiliation to several districts which don't even have any ground of their own." Aamir said that he had also sent his plan to the current Game Development chief Intikhab Alam, who was at that time working as Pakistan's coach. "I hope Intikhab will find it useful," he said. Aamir is not the only one hoping for steps to fix domestic cricket in the country. There are also other former stalwarts like Javed Miandad and Rashid Latif, who have been trying their level best to get their message across. Miandad is in fact a part of the PCB and is serving as its director-general. He made his own plan for the revamping of domestic cricket but rues the fact that the Board has so far not shown any willingness to implement it. "They say that my plan is not on the lines of the PCB constitution," he told 'The News on Sunday'. "I've told them that I can align my plans with the constitution but nobody seems interested. There is so much that can be done but unfortunately nothing is happening," added the former Pakistan captain. Latif is one man who has actively attached himself to the game at the local level after retiring from international cricket. He believes that if there is hope for Pakistan cricket it lies in the clubs. "We will have to reactivate our club structure," Latif told this writer. "It's the clubs that churn out quality players and that's where we've been lacking for quite sometime." .
interview Fawad Ijaz Khan has a
passion for cricket. He may have played tennis at the international
seniors' It is because of this sheer interest in the game that Fawad, who is a successful businessman from Karachi, finds out ample time to not only play regularly but to help run seniors and veterans cricket at the national level. The 52-year-old Fawad is currently the chairman of the Pakistan Veterans Cricket Association. He talked to the 'The News on Sunday' about the challenges faced by senior players and also gave his suggestions for the improvement of the game in general. Here are some excerpts.
The News on Sunday: Tell us about how strong the seniors' cricket circuit is in Pakistan? Fawad Ijaz Khan: PVCA was formed on April 23, 1998. We are completing 12 years of our existence. We are a very strong body with a 16-member Board of Directors. I am the chairman since September 22, 2006. I was the chief executive before that. We are the only authorized seniors/veterans level cricket organisation in Pakistan incorporated with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan. We define seniors level cricket as 35 plus for international matches and 40 years and above for domestic cricket. Veterans cricket is over 50 years and super veterans cricket is over 60 years. A super veterans cricket match was played on March 15, 2009 in Karachi which was the first ever match played in the history of cricket for over 60 cricketers. TNS: Do you think it has potential to grow? FIK: There is tremendous potential to grow in seniors and veterans Cricket. At present in Pakistan there are approximately 1500 players playing seniors cricket and around 200 players playing veterans cricket in matches organised by us. Before 1998 there were very few cricketers in Pakistan playing seniors/veterans cricket. Besides promoting seniors/veterans cricket, the PVCA is also promoting schools cricket by organising Inter-School tournaments. TNS: Do you think cricket is a sport that can promote longevity like games such as golf, tennis and squash? FIK: Like any other sport, playing Cricket is also an exercise which helps you to stay fit. TNS: How many international cricketers switch to the seniors circuit after retiring? FIK: Except for a few ex-Test cricketers many Former Test Players are playing in seniors/veterans cricket. TNS: Do they help in promoting the game at the seniors' level? FIK: The participation of former Test Players helped us to get Sponsorships in the three series that we have played against India. In return, PVCA paid handsome match fees to these players. Ex-Test players like Javed Miandad, Waqar Younus, Abdul Qadir, Rashid Latif and others have played against the Indians. Pakistan have won two ODI series played in India and lost one series played in Pakistan. TNS: Sports persons in Pakistan generally complain of lack of support from the government and corporate sector. Does seniors' cricket suffer from similar problem? FIK: We are not dependent or ask for any financial support from the government or PCB. We seek support from the corporate sector. To get corporate support for domestic matches is a problem which PCB also faces at times. It is easier for international matches where there is TV coverage. TNS: Can you have any seniors' teams from abroad to visit Pakistan? FIK: India's seniors team played in four one-day matches in Pakistan which were telecast live by PTV during 2006. We plan to invite the Indian seniors again to Pakistan as soon as the security situation improves. TNS: Are their enough grounds available for seniors' matches? FIK: The situation is much better since last year when few new grounds were established in Karachi. TNS: Is there a comprehensive international seniors' circuit in cricket like golf and tennis? FIK: Besides India and Pakistan there are no seniors/veterans cricket bodies in the World. TNS: Last year there were a couple of deaths on the ground during seniors' matches. Have you taken any steps to prevent such happenings in the future? FIK: There has been just one death during the last 12 years in the matches organised by the PVCA throughout Pakistan. There were two more deaths in Karachi, one in a friendly match played at Karachi Gymkhana and the other in a normal match played in Korangi. We are discouraging cricketers with heart problems to play cricket at this level. TNS: What do you think are the problems dogging Pakistan cricket as a whole? FIK: The main problem in Pakistan cricket is the indiscipline among the players and the unprofessional handling by PCB. TNS: Do you believe that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is doing enough for the game? FIK: The performance of the PCB during the last few years is far from satisfactory. TNS: Does seniors' cricket receive support from the PCB? FIK: We have never received any support or ask for any support from the PCB. TNS: What are your proposals to lift Pakistan cricket? FIK: It is very important that the post of chairman and chief executive is separated. All the office-bearers are appointed by the Executive Board rather than the president. The General Body should elect the Executive Board. Funds should be given directly to the leading schools of the country to help them in running their teams. The chief executive should be a paid person with a background of marketing and an experience of working with a multinational company. The chairman should be a person with a passion for cricket, a marketing background and good administrative skills. A maximum number of coaches should be trained by the PCB so that they are affiliated with clubs/schools. Separate sets of players should be trained for Twenty20, ODI and Test cricket. Club-level cricket should be promoted. PCB should give regular funds to leading cricket clubs of the country. An IPL-type T20 league should be introduced in Karachi and later in Lahore and matches should be telecast live. The Board should help develop more grounds. More coaching academies should be set up in the northern parts of Pakistan, especially for fast bowlers. Like in India, PCB should make the regional/city cricket associations stronger by giving them annual grants.--Khalid Hussain Top coaches in Cup call-up conundrum With the World Cup set to kick off in less than two months, injuries, bust-ups and form issues have been major causes for concerns for top coaches around the world. By Umaid Wasim The FIFA World Cup kicks off on June 11 in the
scenic Soccer City stadium in Soweto, near None more so than in Italy where Marcello Lippi is having quell media concerns that his squad is an ageing one and might not be able to sustain their challenge as they look to defend their crown. A great majority of Lippi's select belongs to his former club Juventus. Juventus are enduring a poor season and risk not qualifying for next term's Champions League. Azzurri captain Fabio Cannavaro and wing-back Fabio Grosso have both had a torrid campaign, while goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon's season have been disrupted by injury. Those three along with another Juve defender Giorgio Chielleni would form the back-line for Italy at the World Cup. Worse though, Juventus have been porous at the back, leaking in 47 goals this season and the Buffon-Chiellini-Cannavaro trio has looked quite vulnerable. Striker Vincenzo Iaquinta and Mauro Camoranesi have had long spells on the sidelines through injury while the AC Milan duo of Gennaro Gattuso and Gianluca Zambrotta has had unimpressive seasons. Many Italian pundits say that the world champions need to inject youth into the side. But Lippi is confident and seems to prefer older players because he views the physical challenge of the World Cup finals to be secondary to other factors like experience, enthusiasm, charisma and wisdom. While AS Roma captain Francesco Totti has expressed his desire to come out of international retirement to feature in the World Cup, Luca Toni, who has been out of Lippi's side for quite some time has seen good form. Similarly Juve's Brazilian-born forward Amauri has gained Italian citizenship and Sampdoria attacker Antonio Cassano has been in top form. The attacking talent up-front would give Lippi food for thought and taking Cassano, Totti and Toni to the World Cup might not be a bad idea after all. Totti and Toni have been impressive as they helped Roma take the Serie A lead from Inter Milan and going into the World Cup, current form has a major say on the performance as a whole. Cassano is temperamental but still can be magical when he is at his best. A big question mark, though, hangs over Amauri. He has been in erratic form for Juventus and has not been amongst the goals either. Another Brazilian-born attacker is causing Germany coach Joachim Loew some sleepless nights. Loew had pledged never to recall striker Kevin Kuranyi after he stormed out of a World Cup qualifier against Russia in late 2008 when dropped from the squad even after the striker apologised for his behaviour days later. However, Kuranyi is enjoying his best season yet and stands joint-top of the Bundesliga scoring charts with 18. The Brazil-born striker has also set up seven goals as Schalke 04 challenge for their first German championship in over 50 years. In comparison, Germany strikers Lukas Podolski, Miroslav Klose and Mario Gomez have only scored 14 league goals between them this season and that might just make Loew to consider reversing the ban on him. It would indeed be very sensible on part of the German coach as Kuranyi's form in front of goal would aid their aims of winning the coveted trophy. Klose has been resigned to the bench at Bayern and looks to have lost the touch that once made him the top marksman in the world. Captain Michael Ballack has just returned from injury and is not up to his best at Chelsea while Stuttgart midfielder Sami Khedira and Hamburg's Marcell Jansen are struggling with injuries. Considering all that, Loew, who is said to name his squad on May 6, has some tough decisions to make. European champions Spain go to South Africa as one of the favorites and coach Vicente Del Bosque will lead what is likely Spain's best-ever squad of players, a group that has been nearly unbeatable since a second round loss to France at the last World Cup in Germany. But that does not mean that the former Real Madrid coach does not have his share of selection woes. Victor Valdes has had another outstanding season in goal for Barcelona and his continued absence from Spain's squad underlines the embarrassment of goalkeeping riches for the European champions. Valdes, who was called up once in August 2005 but did not play, has no chance of ousting Real Madrid's Iker Casillas as Spain's number one and if he makes Vicente Del Bosque's World Cup squad will be third choice behind Liverpool's Pepe Reina. Del Bosque is certain to stick with Casillas and Reina even though Barcelona fans are demanding places in Spain's World Cup squad for Valdes. Even though Casillas and Real Madrid have been second best to Valdes and Barcelona but there is no doubt that Casillas is one of the best in the world. It is Valdes' bad luck that he came at a time when he was competing with one of the beat in the world; a case very similar when Germany had both Oliver Kahn and Jens Lehmann. Injury to Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas would be a concern for Del Bosque when he names his squad by June 1. While the fears over Wayne Rooney's injury have now gone for England, Fabio Capello has a problem on the right side of midfield. After David Beckham's metatarsal broke to effectively rule him out of the World Cup, Tottenham winger Aaron Lennon is also an injury worry. The winger has not played since the start of 2010. The 22-year-old is generally regarded as England's first-choice right-winger but Capello, who names his preliminary 30-man World Cup squad next month before cutting it down to 23 players on June 1, will loath to select someone who has not played in 2010. Lennon is battling with the likes of Theo Walcott, James Milner and Shaun Wright-Phillips for a place on the plane to South Africa but Lennon is a different class altogether and his absence would be a real cause for concern for the former Juventus gaffer. Capello could also call-up Manchester City winger Adam Johnson who has been very impressive for the Eastlands outfit following his move from Middlesbrough in January. Over in Brazil, Dunga has been centre of media attention for continuously snubbing Ronaldinho even though the AC Milan playmaker showed glimpses of his former self early in the season. With Kaka injured and out of action for Real Madrid, picking up the buck-toothed Brazilian as back-up would not be that bad an idea after all. Kaka has been unsettled at Real and has failed to live up to his price tag of 65 million euros. Ronaldinho though can inspire the team with one flick, one touch and one piece of magic and with Kaka not on song, Ronaldinho would be a far better option. akistan cricket: Dampened by self-infliction? By Dr Nauman Niaz As the Shoaib Malik-Sania Mirza wedding regressed into being a common story, Pakistan Cricket was in the middle of another scoop, Danish Kaneria was suspected for being allegedly involved in fixing a county match, as reported in English newspapers. It struck the already exasperating critiques like a sledgehammer. Why that is the West hasn't been really keen to take Pakistan cricketers seriously, incessantly seeing them with cynicism and suspicion. Walter Lippmann eruditely put in words: "We must remember that in time of war what is said on the enemy's side of the front is always propaganda, and what is said on our side of the front is truth and righteousness, the cause of humanity and a crusade for peace". We as us haven't been able to even follow this philosophy. We bite the flesh on our limbs ourselves and then try whipping the neighbours for having inflicted the wound. Nothing concrete has been invented to stem the criticism almost pouring ceaselessly against the Pakistan cricketers, even without concrete evidences and alibis. Presumably because the PCB itself has tried washing their dirty linen in public; they need to understand that probably every conflict is based on the 'good guys' and the 'bad guys' can often both be guilty of misleading their people with distortions, exaggerations, subjectivity, inaccuracy and even fabrications, or even lying about the issues in order to gain support or just driving their enemy to an irretrievable corner. The recent episode saw the British police investigating two Essex players for 'match irregularities' and in spite of an open-ended media release by the Essex County, the name of Kaneria was published publicly, him being termed as a prime suspect. In a report printed in the Daily Telegraph, it was registered that Kaneria would thoroughly be hauled up by the investigators. It's entirely not about fixing of the match result, but a 'spot-fixing'. If Kaneria's name could be leaked why the other 'partner in crime' didn't could be pulled-up, because he wasn't a Pakistani or his skin had only been darkened in the sun and not primarily because of melanin? The entire sequence could be attributed to the link hypocrisies where PCB's incapacity and their recent self-infliction where the Chairman of the board was readily accepting in a press conference that there were players viewed with a crooked eye for their indiscretions with reference to match-fixing, though minutes he rebutted but few from the Senate party had the tenacity to publicly acclaim that there were evidences about some of the matches being thrown in Australia; they were actually giving the Western journalists meat for their stories regardless of the fact that such crimes in cricket couldn't really be proved. Why were we trying to pull the cat out of the bag before the alarm bell had rung? What PCB was doing? Self-preservation; presumably they tried serving to rally people behind a cause, at the cost of exaggerating, misrepresenting about the issues in order to gain support. It was most unfortunate that people leveling serious charges of match-fixing on their players used selective stories, partial facts didn't really reinforce reasons and motivations and the narrow sources of experts tried providing insights into the situation. It seemed that the Disciplinary Committee set up by the PCB was demonising the players using a narrow range of discourse where by their judgments were made while the boundary of discourse itself, or the framework within which the opinions were formed weren't really discussed with evidences. It was about narrow focus of PCB's top-tier narrowing focus to help serve their interests. The committee that banned four cricketers besides imposing hefty fines on three others, the entire inquiry was a farce based on incompletes, legal breaches, inaccuracy, driving of their agenda, milking the stories, maximising media coverage of their powers by the stringent use of briefings, leaking pieces of a jigsaw to different outlets, allowing journalists to piece the story together and drive their story up to their own agendas. Little they knew that the West was waiting anxiously for their prey; they reinforced the existing attitudes-simple and repetitious. There is an opposite and equal reaction to every action, if and only that action falls in the realm of construction and production. But if the action is ill directed, ill conceived and half cooked it invites an unequal, counterproductive blowback. At times inevitable gets delayed, blowbacks get interdicted and crisis get temporarily averted; while at other times it does not rain but it pours; when each day brings a terrible news; when tragedies stalk the land and reversals are a norm, when defeats are nauseatingly familiar while victories a romantic mirage! How not to run a Cricket board? How not to make a fool of yourself? How not to chagrin an entire nation by first wounding its pride and then rubbing in salt? How not to become a laughing stock the world over? How not to flounder and fluff up, when excellence and diligence is need of the hour? How not to become an ostrich while the sandstorm has jolted the world? The answer to all that is simple; never do what Ijaz Butt's government does! Ever since his assumption of office, Pakistan Cricket has gone into a tailspin, lurching from one disaster to another, tossing helplessly. So controversy prone and tragedy ridden has been his tenure, that any peroration of the events of past two years would dwarf any Greek tragedy in pathos. So much has gone wrong, so many have been the fluff ups that one may safely presume that no controversy imaginable is left in store. To elevate geriatrics to a worthy designation is to vitiate both; once place in venal and wavering hands the most glorious and well established of all institutions go to seed. This is exactly what has happened to the PCB and its staple produce. A dilemma is best illustrated in form of a comparison between policies and the contrast among the results. With the modern cricketing praxis being written in Hindi and the centre of gravity of cricketing power gravitating towards our east, we could not have asked for a more unsuitable chairman of the PCB as Mr Butt. First he is a morose, laid back character with some utterly dysfunctional ideas of leadership. Secondly, he is hopelessly out of tune with the intricacies and nuances of modern day cricket, totally a cipher in cutting edge advancements as kinesiology, motor learning, etc. He has done little to inspire confidence on his capacity of discharging in an effective manner even the elementary functions required of his designation. He shuffles his team members around like cards in a game of a poker. Under his patronage, the PCB has become a house of broken vows, shattered dreams, impossible loyalties and incessant intrigues. The ones who welcomed him with gusto have turned eerily silent; those who jumped aboard his bandwagon with glee have long since ditched it in a huff. Kaneria's recent exploitation (unless until proved with concrete evidence) is just a continuation of what Mr. Butt and his 'erudite' disciplinary committee had augmented, levelling their players being involved in match-fixing? So who is the sinner, the West or us as self-inflictors?
Street children and the football World Cup By Aamir Bilal Ahead of the FIFA
World Cup which kicks off in June 2010, street children from eight
countries of the Former England Captain David Beckham recognising this tremendous initiative said: "I know from personal experience just what power football can have to inspire and change young peopleís lives whatever their background or nationality. This is what the Deloitte Street Child World Cup is all about and I give it my full support". The inaugural Child World Cup Championship took place, in March 2010 and saw marginalised children from eight different countries gather to use the universal language of football and art to push for their right to shelter, protection from violence, and access to health care and education. Teams from Brazil, Tanzania, Philippines, South Africa, Nicaragua, Ukraine and India took part in the event. The event was not only a tournament of unity on the field but also off the field where street children met in a conference orchestrated by the University of Cambridge to voice the issues and the commitment resolutions they face. It was decided that "Street Child Manifesto" will be shortly developed which can be used across the word to help fight for the rights of street children everywhere. The tournament was won by India by a solitary goal. Bal Singh, the Indian Coach after winning the tournament said, "we wanted to win the Street World Cup because back home we have a large number of poor and marginalised children for whom there could not had been a better gift". At the end of the event, the art work generated by the street children during the tournament was collated in to an exhibition at the Durban Art Gallery and will remain on display for the public throughout the FIFA World Cup before coming back to UK in August this year. The game of football was once among the most popular sport of the sub-continent. Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah was the first Patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF), which has been affiliated with FIFA sine 1948, Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat now heads its new management and Colonel (Retd) Lodhi is the Secretary of PFF. Pakistan's core national league has three divisions, below them are regional leagues, the National Football Challenge Cup, the Inter-City Super Football league which is Pakistan's first professional football tournament that started in 2007 and a national women football championship which was initiated in 2005, yet the country is no where visible on the scene of international football. The Greenshirts were once recognised amongst the best Asian football teams. Pakistan were Merdeka Cup runners-up in Malaya in 1962. But inadequate funding and poor management had put Pakistan football behind many contemporary teams which they used to beat. Pakistan currently lies 156th in the world football ranking and the new PFF management has tried to save the turbulent football of Pakistan by resorting to some emergency measures like hiring the services of former English Premier League player Zeshan Rehman. PFF is presently trying to hire more players from foreign leagues of Pakistani descent with the help of third party contracts, to allow them to represent Pakistan internationally and to boost the profile of competitive football in the country. Besides Zesh, PFF hired services of Atif Bashir from Bridgend Town, Adnan Ahmed from Ferencvaros, Reis Ashraf from Lamington and Shabir Khan from Worcester city but have failed to develop a strong, home-grown football system. The fact is that this most popular game of the world only requires a flat piece of ground, a football and a couple of young people to play. Unlike PFF goal project where 36 per cent of US$400,000 has been spent on infrastructure development, the developing countries are spending the major portions of their budgets on program development and using football as a tool of development and peace through intelligent investments in education institutions, and community-based football projects where development and training of talented and educated players become an automatic outcome. A few weeks ago, I had an opportunity to visit the slums of Bekha Syedan, a five-hundred-year-old community located in the centre of a posh area in Islamabad to distribute footballs amongst the poor children of the locality that were donated by" Right To Play". I could see in the eyes of those children a desire to play and to be recognised like other sport stars of the country. I was stunned when a small girl from the area said that if given an opportunity she would like to play and become famous like Nasim Hameed, the fastest women of South Asia. Such is the power of sport and such is the ignorance of our sport organisers, who have no clue and interest to leverage this tremendous human potential, lying untapped in streets, slums and education institutions of the country. I hope that the PFF think tanks besides spending millions on infrastructure development and hiring of contractual players from abroad would prefer investing on projects that helps developing football at grass roots where marginalised children of society like Bekha Syedan, Machi Ghot and Lyari may also get an opportunity to display their latent sports abilities. Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu described the Deloitte Street Child World Cup as a great success that demonstrates the tremendous potential of every single child and especially street children, who are so often treated as less than human. The initiation of sports event like Street Football Championship in Pakistan can thus act as a catalyst of football revival in the country in years to come. My message to the big wigs of PFF is that "when children play, the whole world wins".
Aamir Bilal is a qualified coach sdfsports@gmail.com |
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recent Karachi visit as to how long a country's cricket can survive
without any international matches taking place on its soil, the South
African was quick to respond and issued a sincere advise to the people
at the helm of Pakistan cricket, asking them to learn from South Africa.
level but cricket remains his first love.
Johannesburg. The final teams for the event, however, have to be decided
a month before the event starts. With the amount of injuries, bust-ups
between coaches and players, and form issues, the coaches of top
national teams are facing a real selection dilemma in deciding which
players to take to the spectacle and which to omit from their team
rosters.
globe got united in South Africa to demand their rights through the
universal game of football. This initiative to hold the Deloitte Street
Child World Cup was taken by a UK-based human rights charity
organisation to use football as a global force of good for all and not
just some.