Pakistan may miss SAFF Under-18 Men’s Championship

KARACHI: Due to the ongoing process to appoint a normalisation committee for Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) the country may miss the SAFF Under-18 Men’s Championship which Nepal is going to host from September 20-29.

If the appointment of the normalisation committee is delayed then the nation may miss the event. Pakistan have not yet started preparation for the event as the PFF ExCo has been dissolved in consequence of FIFA’s announcement in June that it would form a normalisation committee for the PFF.

If the committee is appointed in the first week of September then there is the possibility of Pakistan’s participation in the regional event, which will be held in Kathmandu. Pakistan have already confirmed their entry in the seven-nation competition.

The normalisation committee’s task among other things would also be to run day-to-day affairs of Pakistan’s football. So it will be the responsibility of the committee to ensure Pakistan’s participation in international events until it continues working.

Pakistan under-19 football team will travel to Iraq and the under-16 team will visit Saudi Arabia later this year to feature in their respective continental events. The under-16 qualifiers will be held in September and the under-19 qualifiers in November.

Pakistan have already held under-16 team camp at Lahore under the Brazilian coach Jose Roberto Portella. It would also be the responsibility of the normalisation committee to send these teams for featuring in the respective events.