Essa hails LHC decision, urges PFF to work fast

KARACHI: Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Essa on Friday appreciated the decision of the Lahore High Court (LHC) division bench and said it would help resume football in the country.

“Players suffered during the last three years and I think court has done a good job to resolve the issue,” Essa told ‘The News’ from Chaman.He also congratulated the PFF chief Faisal Saleh Hayat on his success. He added the PFF now should launch football activities vigorously.

“Footballers faced great hardships during the last three years. There should be vigorous activities now to compensate for the damage done to the game,” said the former playmaker.Essa serves as a playing coach at K-Electric, who under his captaincy won their maiden Premier League crown a few years ago.

“There is a lot of work to be done, right from youth development programmes to the premier league.The PFF will have to do a lot in a short span of time. It will have to convince the departments which disbanded their teams to reconsider their decision,” Essa said.

Since April 2015 because of the conflict between the PFF and its rival group headed by Arshad Lodhi no Pakistan team has featured in any international event. Besides, the country’s premier league hasn’t been held for three years. This caused a lot of damage to the careers of our footballers who might have got chances of playing in foreign leagues on the basis of their performances in international matches or in the domestic league.