Muneer Ahmed, a U16 football player has one thing in common with his idol, the Brazilian player Neymar: he is playing with a replica of the World Cup 2014 football that Pakistan will be sending to Brazil this year.
That Pakistan-made footballs being used in the Fifa World Cup 2014 is a good thing, but it’s not good enough. Though one might feel a diminished degree of joy upon seeing the world’s top players roll the ‘made in Pakistan’ balls, it’s just a sad state of affairs for football as a sport in Pakistan.
Players like Ahmed should have been at the World Cup, representing Pakistan, or at least that is my wishful thinking as a reporter who regularly gets to witness skills and talent in local players.
Saying that we have potential is like telling a child that the sky is blue. We are a nation of an estimated 182,589,000 people: of course there is potential! But so far, we haven’t qualified for the football World Cup since 1947. This small fact is enough to understand why sending footballs to the World Cup is just a secondary achievement. It’s like we have the hardware, but we don’t have the required software to run the machine. For local football fans, it is actually all the same.
The story of Pakistani footballs should have an impact on the Pakistan Football Federation or corporate sponsors. They should put money in local clubs and make academies. Today, there is no academy regulated by the Pakistan Football Federation in the country. There are independent clubs working in their own capacity, but they do not have the potential or resources to send the talent abroad or even to the national team. And somehow, it is this gap that is keeping the national team from getting more talent; keeping the national team from including players who can win international tournaments.
Football has seeped into our culture more than ever. Most teenagers that I see or know are more interested in football than in cricket. Why can’t we have a better team or opportunities for players like Muneer when there is a market for football in Pakistan?
I covered the Street Child World Cup 2014, and the team’s success, even for winning a bronze at an international tournament, meant a great deal, despite the fact that none of these players were trained professionally. There are sporadic achievements besides this, but we still don’t have any significant international achievement in the sport.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 28th, 2014.
COMMENTS (7)
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Spot on! I fail to understand why everyone is going crazy over social media? It is not even a Pakistani brand! It is a adidas or a nike football, no one cares if it is made in Bangladeshi, Vietnamese or Pakistani sweat shop!
Dear Reporter. Academy under FIFA's goal-project is regulated by the Pakistan Football Federation.
Thnaks ET once again for highlighting the game of football in Pakistan. Govt should give some importance to this game as well. We have a lot of talent in this game and just needs to explore it.
I agree with Natasha Raheel's conclusion; Pakistan has a lot of footballing potential.
But the PFF haven't done enough to tap that potential and turn it into talent for the National Team. And now the coach isn't playing our foreign-based stars, who have been the best players in the team!
Someone should really look into the scam that was the Street Child World Cup team. Everyone is so giddy congratulating themselves on the bronze medal no one is looking at how those players got there and whether they deserved to go or not. Those who know the real story are not exposing it for the reasons of "national interest"
Dear Reporter,
I like your enthusiasm about how you feel, but kindly change the heading of your topic. It is true that Pakistan's young generation has talent, but this doesn't mean that you hit directly at the one thing that came out right after years. If Pakistan is supplying Footballs for the enormous tournament than count this as step 1. At least the part of the world might know that (beside terrorism) Pakistan has capabilities to excel like every other country may it be production of a particular good. And about playing football, yes, it is a good thing it's about time that the country should start focusing on other sports rather than cricket or hockey.
Valid point Natasha, Wish more was done to hone those skills.