Saqib signs contract with Maldives club

KARACHI: Pakistan’s international goalkeeper Saqib Hanif has signed with Maldives top club TC Sports for the third phase of their Premier League, sources close to the gloveman said.

TC are defending the Maldives’s Premier League title. The Pakistani footballer will not only represent TC for the remaining part of the league but he will also be part of the TC’s AFC Cup group stage journey as well. TC Sports is being coached by Mohamed Shazly, a pro license coach.

Both Shazly and Pakistan’s former head coach Shehzad Anwar are good friends. Both have done their pro license course together. Saqib, a Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) player, before transferring to TC Sports, was associated with Maldives’s Foakaidhoo. A few days ago Saqib had told this correspondent that he was set to join TC for the third round of the league. He has been playing in the Maldives league since 2016 when he had first played for BG Sports. Before Saqib, Pakistan’s international midfielder Saadullah had played for BG Sports in 2015. The contracts of both these players had been managed by Shehzad.

Shehzad had also brokered contracts for Basit, Saadullah, Shehram Babar and Mohsin Ali for the Minivan National Championship of Maldives. Shehzad had also sent a bunch of Pakistani footballers including Ihsanullah, Umar Hayat, Ali Uzair and Ahmed Faheem to Brazil last year. He is also trying to manage contracts of a few players with clubs in Nepal’s league.