KARACHI: To the pleasure of football enthusiasts in the city, the eagerly awaited Ramadan Football Tournament kicked underway on Saturday in the Naya Nazimabad neighbourhood.
Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, the Minister of Sindh’s Local Government, served as the tournament’s chief guest and ceremonial first kickoff before the opening game at the Naya Nazimabad Football Stadium.
Shah kicked the ground, striking a nearby photographer. The minister quickly apologised for the event, though.
The competition, which will include eight teams and was won by Pakistan Army last year, will feature the greatest football players from the city.
The final match of the tournament will take place on April 9.
Nasir Ismail, a former football player, is one of the tournament’s organisers.
Ismail had earlier advised the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee (NC) of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) to bring in a foreign coach if it wanted its national men’s squad to do well in upcoming international competitions.
“NC should hire the services of a foreign coach if we are to deliver in the SAFF Cup and World Cup Qualifiers,” Nasir told The News on Tuesday.
Zavisa Milosavljevic, Salman Sharida, and Mohammed Shamlan are three previous Pakistani coaches who NC can choose from because they have all worked for Pakistan and are familiar with the country’s culture and even the calibre of its players, according to Nasir.
He also urged that Shehzad Anwar, the Pakistani team’s current head coach, be named Director Technical.
“I believe Shehzad should be nominated as Director Technical because he is a technical person. While Shehzad has taken multiple coaching courses with me, and I have nothing against him, he hasn’t been able to deliver results, so it’s time to get a foreign coach, Nasir remarked.
According to Nasir, the current men’s team has access to every kind of facility and should have defeated the Maldives on Tuesday.
I believe that Pakistan ought to have defeated the Maldives in today’s game. Disappointingly, the team hasn’t produced any outcomes, Nasir continued.The level of resources available to the head coach and the entire team is unmatched in the history of Pakistani football.
Nasir also took issue with the practise of bringing in foreign-based footballers without having them participate in national camp.
How can players who are located abroad adjust when they arrive the day before a big international match? I believe that going forward, players should not be considered for national duty if they cannot report to the camp ten days prior to an event or a game, Nasir added.