Pakistan invited to feature in Maldives-hosted four-nation football tournament

KARACHI: Pakistan have received an invitation from the Maldives to participate in a four-nation football tournament scheduled for June.

According to a source in the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF), the proposed event, set to take place from June 1 to 10 in the Maldives, aims to bring together teams from South Asia.

Talks are currently ongoing between the PFF and the Maldives Football Association regarding Pakistan's participation, with officials expressing optimism about sending a national squad.

According to sources, Nepal and Sri Lanka are two other teams for the tournament. The event is part of the Maldives Independence Day celebrations and thus, shall be called "Independence Cup".

Pakistan's potential participation would provide valuable international exposure for the team ahead of future regional competitions and offer an opportunity to test strategies and squad depth against comparable South Asian opponents.

The invitation came just a week after Pakistan concluded their AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers campaign with a 1-2 victory against Myanmar behind closed doors at the Jinnah Sports Stadium in Islamabad.

For the unversed, the Green Shirts were already out of contention to qualify for the AFC Asian Cup as they were at the bottom of the Group E standings with just two points in five matches.

The Green Shirts suffered defeats against Saudi Arabia and Syria in each of the two legs, while settling for a stalemate against Afghanistan in both their meetings.

In their previous face-off against Myanmar in the qualifiers, the national team suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat.