‘Invest in pitches, not foreign coach’

National footballers urge PFF to improve infrastructure.

KARACHI: Pakistan football players have urged the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) to invest in infrastructure instead of spending heavily on a foreign coach.

According to striker Arif Mehmood, lack of proper infrastructure is stopping Pakistan from moving up the rankings and that a foreign coach was not the solution when even the practice pitches given to the national squad are uneven.

Mehmood went on to defend coach Tariq Lutfi, saying that it will take a year for any other coach to get the team on the right track.

“Foreign coaches can’t produce results because of the language barrier,” Mehmood told The Express Tribune. “Even a foreign coach would need at least a year to understand the system here. The PFF needs to set its priorities right and put money in grooming the players and improving the state of the pitches.”

Captain Jaffer Khan added that a foreign coach will cost a lot and the same money could be utilised in arranging more international tours.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 8^th, 2011.