The countdown to FIFA 2010’s final has begun, and like many Pakistanis I wish to see the day when the green shirts from our land take to the field on the biggest football event in the world and raise the golden cup high above their heads as our national anthem plays. So the question is what happened to Pakistan’s football dream?
Pakistan’s Victory Lap : a sight we wish all to see in FIFA worldcup
The history of football in Pakistan is as old as the country itself, in December 1947 Pakistan Football Federation was established with Quaid-e-Azam being the patron in chief of the young organization, the PFF was recognized in early 1948 by FIFA. Pakistan’s first National Football Championship was played between May 28 to June 5 in 1948 at Karachi. The winners were Sindh Red, beating their fellow provincial team Sindh Blue. It was a knock-out competition, which remained this way until it was replaced by a Football League in 2004.
Pakistan was once one of the top footballing sides of Asia, recording its biggest win against Thailand in 1960, winning 7-0. However the sport remained underdeveloped for decades due to mismanagement, lack of support and corruption. The PFF also didn't bother sending the team to World Cup qualifiers until 1989. This saw Pakistan become one of the weakest sides in Asia and in the world. Pakistan as of 26th May 2010 ranks 165th in the World.
Pakistan’s national team has so far been unable to qualify for FIFA worldcup or the Asian Cup, but this sorry state of affairs can be attributed to the immense popularity of cricket in the region, lack of general interest in the game and PFF’s own lackluster handling of football in the country for the greater part of the last 6 decades.
The development of football as a game in Pakistan has not been in smooth, and as already mentioned the participation in international events has been sporadic. Football around the world has soared to new heights in the world, especially in the European and Latin American countries. The techniques and tricks of the game have evolved. Today a football match between two balanced sides is one of the most exciting sporting spectacle. But unfortunately Pakistan’s football dreams have been bashed repeatedly and the standard gone down instead of up. The dream of making the game professional in Pakistan seems like a far cry, groupism, bureaucracy, corruption has seriously hindered football’s smooth progress in Pakistan. To put the game on right path earnest efforts are the need of the hour; but the PFF is not alone to blame, the players of the past squads are not free from blame either: like the infamous incident where the Pakistani national squad went abroad and simply disappeared, instead of playing a good match and returning.
Something needs to be done;
· The first and foremost step to be taken is to introduce a youth program to find potential players for the national team and train them from an early age. The youth program will comprise of football tournaments at the school and university levels, along with inter city and national leagues.
· A proper league system to be introduced accessable to all
· Making sure that it pays to play football for a club or for your country. Unfortunatley one does not earn much in other sports as compared to cricket.
· Introduction of sports based scholarship in higher educaton institutes specially football.
This is just the begginning of our journey to better football in our country. One day Pakistan’s football dream will come true, when we will see our greenshirts raising the golden cup.
© 2010 posted by Mustafa Ali Khan Afreedi (DarkMystic)
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