Pakistan club to visit Brazil

KARACHI: An understanding has been reached between former Pakistan football team coach Shehzad Anwar and a Brazilian club under which the former will send a Pakistani club team to play a few games there.

“Yes, I have talked to Oscar Viera Kristen, the president of Broda do Campo FC, based at Sao Jose Pinhais, Curitiba, and he told me that I should bring a Pakistani club to Brazil,” Shehzad told ‘The News’ on Monday.

“Now I am trying to negotiate with a club so that we could go there. We will seek sponsors for the tour as the club will have to bear its air-fare. The Brazilian club will provide board and lodging expenses,” Shehzad said.

“I was told by Oscar that the fund which will be raised through matches between the two clubs will be donated to the poor people of the area,” Shehzad said.

Shehzad said that he was also trying to get a few Pakistani players adjusted in clubs in Brazil so that they could keep themselves fit.

“There is no football activity in Pakistan, so I am trying to adjust some players from here in various clubs in Brazil. Our players direly need such support in this difficult time,” the coach said.

Pakistan football has been inactive for the last 14 months because of a legal battle between two factions of Pakistan Football Federation (PFF).

Shehzad has been working with a Brazilian club, which is a requirement for getting his pro license which he has completed by attending five modules in different countries during the past couple of years.

Shehzad, who served Pakistan as head coach during the SAFF Cup in Nepal in 2013, is the only Pakistani coach to have done this course.

Shehzad is also on the coaches education panel of the Sao Paulo Coaches Union which is called SITREFESP.