2018 World Cup qualifiers: PFF remains optimistic despite FIFA’s decision

Yemen go back without playing second leg due to security concerns in Lahore

KARACHI: The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) remains upbeat about future prospects of holding international tournaments in the country despite FIFA’s decision to postpone the 2018 World Cup qualifier in Lahore due to security concerns.

FIFA made the decision to shift the second leg of the preliminary tie between Pakistan and Yemen, initially scheduled to take place on March 17, to a neutral venue after the church bombing protest and uncertain law-and-order situation in Lahore.

PFF secretary Ahmed Yar Khan Lodhi said that while it was an unfortunate event, the federation is not giving up on bringing international competitions to Pakistan. “It wasn’t embarrassing at all,” Lodhi told The Express Tribune. “This was beyond our control. With the current political situation in the country, no one would want to come to Pakistan. But we aren’t losing hope.”

Lodhi said the PFF would try to convince FIFA and the international teams to come to Pakistan in the future despite the incident. “This will take a lot of effort though; we’ll have to start from scratch and convince other countries. However, for now, we’ve agreed to FIFA’s decision on the qualifier.”

The secretary added that along with the qualifier, the Asian Football Confederation U23 Championship in Lahore, scheduled for March 23, had been postponed as well, with the new venue and dates to be announced in the coming two weeks.

Meanwhile, Pakistan team’s assistant coach Hassan Baloch said that having these events delayed is disappointing. “We were playing at home,” said Baloch. “Now we need to resort to playing outside and wait for the new dates. We’ll be preparing the team nevertheless, though it’s sad that we are losing home advantage in two major events.”

The assistant coach further said that senior players like Hassan Bashir, Muhammad Ali and Kaleemullah will not be taking further part in the national camp and will rejoin the squad once FIFA gives notice regarding the new date.

 

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