KARACHI: Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) has confirmed the participation of the men’s national football team in the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship to be played in Bangladesh in September.
According to a statement issued by PFF’s spokesman, the first training camp is set to be conducted from May 21 to June 15.
The national side will then reunite from June 28 to July 20 which will be followed by another training camp from August 1 to 20. The squad will be back together again from August 28 till the end of the SAFF Cup 2021.
The Pakistan ???????? Men's National Team ⚽ will be #RoaringOnceAgain when they come back in action this summer with a series of training camps to prepare for September's SAFF Suzuki Cup in Bangladesh. Check out the calendar ????#DilSayFootball???? #MenBackInAction #PakistanFootball???????? pic.twitter.com/8vmzk5WnOH
— B????red Ape Yacht CIubᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠ (@PakistanFF) March 19, 2021
PFF Normalisation Committee chairman Haroon Malik said that the return of men’s national football team in action will be a momentous breakthrough for the PFF.
Pakistan men’s national team will be competing in the SAFF Cup this September and the FIFA Windows, for which we’ve approached all AFC Asian Football Confederation Member Associations, he said.
The PFF spokesman said that Pakistan will have the opportunity to play international friendlies during the FIFA Windows which will open from May 31 to June 15, August 30 to September 7, October 4 to 12 and November 8-16 this year.
Pakistan Football Federation has approached various Asian countries and has invited them to play matches against Pakistan’s team, he said.
Earlier, Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) had requested FIFA as financial support to help players and officials amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The chairman of PFF’s Normalization Committee (NC), Hamza Khan, disclosed the news today (Sunday) while talking to journalists in Karachi.
Hamza Khan said, “PFF is not financially stable at this moment. NC has got a very limited fund even for conducting the PFF’s election, which is our actual mandate.”
In this regard, he further said, “In such a financial crisis how can we think of contributing to something else.” “We own our players, coaches, and referees who are under financial crisis due to the ongoing coronavirus situation,” Hamza Khan added.
He further revealed that the federation has already requested FIFA and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to extend some financial support.
The NC chairman also said, “If they give us a special fund of this cause, we would definitely make sure to help those in need.” Hamza Khan emphasized non-financial measures which they are working on to play their part in fighting with widely-spread coronavirus.
