Pakistan men's team has to wait more for international football activities

KARACHI: Pakistan men’s football team may have to wait a little more for resumption of their international activities as PFF has not been able to manage friendlies for them during FIFA’s window next month.

A source has confirmed that the Pakistan Football Federation has now shifted its focus on arranging a tri-nation in November, though they haven’t completely ruled out the possibility of having a team in September.

“PFF did contact several countries but most were unable to arrange matches due to shortage of time,” the source said.

Among the countries PFF contacted include Afghanistan, Palestine, Gambia, Mongolia, Laos, Maldives.

“Palestine was unable to play matches because time was too short for them but they have expressed desire to play in future,” the source said.

“Afghanistan insisted that one match should be played in Kabul before a match in Islamabad while Gambia wanted to play on a neutral venue. Mongolia wanted to play home matches instead of touring. These options were not feasible for PFF.”

“Maldives and Laos had already committed a tri-series with Brunei,” the sourced explained.

According to the source, the main hurdle for the PFF was shortage of time to arrange matches in September as most of the countries had already slotted their games on FIFA window.

“The PFF has set 31st August as cut off date before making a final call to abandon plans for matches in September as they are still in talks with a couple of countries, simultaneously they are also making contacts for arranging tri nation outside FIFA window in November,” the source said.

The source also confirmed that despite uncertainty on international matches, the PFF is determined to kick off men’s National Team camp from end of August.

“The camp for men’s team will start on 28th August,” it said.

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