Diaspora players join Pakistan football squad in Nepal
Pakistan will face Nepal on November 16
KATHMANDU: The diaspora players of the Pakistan football squad have joined the rest of their teammates in Nepal.
The Pakistan team touched down in Nepal, earlier today, for their friendly against the home side on November 16 at the Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu.
The foreign players which have joined Pakistan’s squad includes Hassan Bashir, Adnan Yaqoob, Abdullah Iqbal and Yousuf Butt. All four players currently ply their trade in Denmark’s club football.
It must be noted that the Pakistan men’s national team will be returning to action for the first time in more than three years.
The Shaheens’ last international appearance was during the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, when they lost, 2-1, to Cambodia in the first round on June 11, 2019.
Ahead of their return to international football, Pakistan team participated in an extensive training camp in Lahore under the supervision of head coach Shehzad Anwar.
Hassan Bashir will lead the side while Muhammad Umar Hayat will assist him as vice-captain.
The goalkeepers included in the squad are Saqib Hanif, Yousuf Ijaz Butt, and Abdul Basit, meanwhile the defenders are Zain (Jr), Sohail Khan, Syed Junaid Shah, Abdullah Shah, Mamoon Musa, Abdullah Iqbal, Sardar Wali and Haseeb Khan.
The midfielders in the squad are Umair Ali, Zain-ul-Abideen, Abdul Qadeer Khan, Alamgir Ghazi, M. Adnan Yaqoob and Adnan Saeed.
Mohammad Afzaal, Muhammad Waheed, Mohammad Waleed Khan and Shayek Dost are the forwards in the squad.
FIFA lifts ban on PFF
FIFA had decided to lift ban on the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF), which was imposed in April 2021 due to undue third-party interference, in June earlier this year.
FIFA also extended the mandate of the Normalisation Committee (NC) by 12 months.
According to FIFA, the mandate of the normalisation committee includes the managing of PFF’s daily affairs, ensuring the proper registration and scrutiny of the clubs in Pakistan, draft and ratify, with the assistance of FIFA and the AFC, an electoral code for the PFF, organise the elections at district followed by provincial levels and conduct the elections of a new PFF executive committee
Comments