Adnan on PFF radar for Asiad

KARACHI: Danish Superliga midfielder Adnan Mohammad of Pakistani origin is on the radar of Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) for the forthcoming Asian Games and SAFF Championships.

Accoding to sources the 21-year old Adnan, who plays for Denmark’s top-tier football Superliga’s club Helsingor FC will come to Pakistan on June 10.Sources said that the fate of Adnan would be decided after the selectors would see him in the national team camp in Lahore.

“He has told us that he will come on June 10. We will check how he is before taking any decision about him,” a source said.If found good Adnan will be eligible to play for Pakistan both in the Asian Games and SAFF Cup.

The Asian Games are pencilled in for August 18 to September 2 in Indonesia while SAFF Cup would be held in Bangladesh from September 4-15.As has already been carried by a section of Pakistan’s media in the near past Norway’s Ghayas Zahid is the other who could make his Pakistan’s debut in the SAFF Championship.

“Ghayas’ father wants his son to play for Pakistan. Let’s see what happens. If he is able to get his Pakistani passport in due course of time so he may represent Pakistan in the SAFF Cup,” a highly credible source said.The 23-year old Oslo-born Ghayas is the first Pakistani origin footballer to have featured in the last UEFA Champions League while representing Nicosia-based professional club APOEL FC.

Cyprus’ APOEL FC feature in the Cypriot First Division and is the most popular club. A handful of Denmark-based and England-based players have been representing Pakistan for the last few years in international circuit. Sources said that all of them are under consideration for Pakistan’s duty this year. Meanwhile the Pakistan Football Federation will soon finalise national camp for the Asian Games and SAFF Cup. “In a couple of days everything will be finalized about the camp,” a Pakistan Football Federation official told The News. The official also revealed that the players would be boarded at the Sports Board Punjab (SBP) hostel during the camp.

The initiative was taken because the PFF headquarters hostel is being rehabilitated. The hostel and other facilities of the headquarters have received huge damage during the last three years of occupation from the PFF’s rival group.

Pakistan football team Brazilian coach Jose Antonio Nogueira is in Lahore to give final touches to the camp which is expected to begin next week.The selectors have shortlisted 55 home-grown players for the camp. The players have been picked during the National Challenge Cup which Pakistan Air Force (PAF) recently won in Karachi after beating WAPDA 2-1 in the final.