KARACHI: A five-member delegation of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Vision Asia was scheduled to return to Kuala Lumpur last night from Lahore after monitoring the football structure of Pakistan.
During a five-day visit to Pakistan the Vision Asia team, headed by Irish expert Brendan Menton, examined the administrative structure of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF), the structure at district and provincial level, AID-27 coaching programme, football activities in the country, pitches, the function of academies, the function of referees’ wing, women football and other major areas which are indispensable for running football in the country.
The secretary of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) Col Ahmad Yar Khan Lodhi told ‘The News’ on Saturday that the Vision Asia team also met with the Punjab Ministry of Education officials and told them that the ministry will have to make football more active at school and college level.
Lodhi said that the team will analyse the whole data regarding football structure in Pakistan and after evaluation, recommendations will be given to the PFF about what needs to be done to put the country’s football on right footing.
“A meeting will be held in Kuala Lumpur after a month in which the Vision Asia team will give us recommendations about what should be done for football improvement in Pakistan,” Lodhi said. He said that the proper function will start within two months.
Lodhi said that the delegation also told the PFF that the structure of the Premier League should be put on such lines that one team could play only one match in a week, saying by doing so the league will stretch to eight months.