Lahore, 7 April : “Vision Asia is the Asian Football Confederation (AFC)’s grand plan for a continent-wide program to raise the standards of football at all levels. PFF is to focus on improving its administration, strengthening clubs, Premier League and boosting development as part of the Vision Pakistan project to raise the standard of football in the country. It is all out effort of Pakistan Football Federation (PFF)’s President Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat for fulfiling criteria of AFC and becoming 15th of the 46 AFC-related countries to join VA. Pakistan will get all the technical assistance from the AFC in various fields which would pave the way for the growth of the game.” this is stated by Syed Khadim Ali Shah, PFF Vice President during concluding ceremony of Vision Asia Planning Workshop today at FIFA Football House, Lahore.
Expressing his enthusiasm, Khadim Shah, also South Asian Football Federation’s SVP said: “PFF under directives and commanding leadership of Faisal Saleh Hayat is committed to implement Vision Asia’s principles of football development in systematically developing the game in Pakistan. Several countries have backed out from VA but Pakistan is still showing guts and are still among the nine countries left in the race. A healthy sign for PFF.”
AFC’s Vision India Director Imtiaz Rehman, AFC Vision Asia Department Director Michelle Chai, PFF’s Secretary General Lt. Col ®Ahmed Yar Khan Lodhi, Director Operation Wng Cmdr ® Pervaiz Saeed Mir, managers of Pakistan Premier League teams, and provincial heads were also present on this occasion.
The AFC delegation spent two days in Pakistan outlining a comprehensive program for the development of Pakistani football “Vision Asia started few years ago and some Asian countries are under this program. I have faith in PFF’s officials and hope everything will go in the right direction. We will try to build infrastructure and work with the PFF and number of provinces, districts to build a strong base of football.” said Imtiaz.
“Vision Asia program will give us an opportunity to build and develop our football. With the help of this program, we can groom our players and teams in a professional way. Everything starts from the foundation. A well organised foundation program will help us in the long run. I see VA as a great chance for us to fulfill our dream.” added Ahmed Lodhi
“The delegation were briefed about the league structure, youth development program and the administrative activities of the PFF as well as the provincial and district structure also came under discussion,” added Mir.
“With Vision Asia, we are talking about the team for tomorrow and not only for today. This program is a springboard for us to produce more and more professional, better players than we currently have. We want to see a team for many years unlike before. We are building teams and experts for the future. The Vision Asia will not only help us to improve our football standard but also encourage fans to embrace better habits,” concluded Shah.