Football: Glimmers of Hope [Dawn]

by Shahrukh Sohail

When Pakistan faced off against Syria in the qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup against Syria at the Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium in Al-Hofuf, Saudi Arabia, it was uncharted territory for the Shaheens. They had never reached this round before.

As has been the case over the past few years, the team was massively underprepared for the game but still managed to hold their head high with their performance. Considering that Syria is ranked at 93 (Pakistan is ranked 198), the final 2-0 scoreline was pretty respectable, with head coach Stephen Constantine’s men keeping Syria at bay for most of the 90 minutes and conceding both goals through set pieces.

Countries usually prepare for such important qualifiers with plenty of training camps, a solid domestic structure and competitive friendlies. However, Pakistan hasn’t had such ‘luxuries’ in a long-time, and the ad hoc nature of the Pakistani football ecosystem was on its finest display as the head coach literally had only four training sessions in Saudi Arabia before the game.

If you open the blame game, the list goes pretty long and it has become a redundant discussion, unless there is a stable Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) — with an elected president — that can access funding from both Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

However, if you keep the context in mind and the level of the opponents, Pakistan did punch above its weight — holding a solid backline and nearly getting on the score sheet too through captain Abdullah Iqbal, whose last ditch effort was agonisingly close to getting an important goal.

Ever since he has taken over, Stephen Constantine has been an interesting figure. He gained applause for his ability to take Pakistan to the second round of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers (a first in Pakistan’s history) and has pushed the team to credible performances against the giants of Asia — a feat made harder by the complete lack of a domestic structure.

Competing against the likes of Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Tajikistan was always a tall ask and no one with a rational football mind would have expected Pakistan to pick up any points here. What was on the cards, however, was the chance to compete in the Asian Cup qualifiers against less competitive opponents and utilise the home and away format to grab wins and gain much-needed FIFA ranking points too.

Had the team trained and played together and stayed connected after the Tajikistan game in June 2024, and topped off their progress with a few training camps (Saudi Arabia seems to be our go-to destination for this) and a couple of friendly games, Pakistan would have had a genuine shot at being competitive in a group that contains Myanmar and Afghanistan, apart from Syria.

However, with zero action over the last year, the Shaheens are here just to participate and can’t be expected to pull off a miracle Asian Cup qualification. Since 2015, the political mess has limited Pakistan to such participations only — but it’s high time that this finally changes.

Ten years is surely enough to destroy the sport but there is a glimmer of hope that the PFF president’s election will be complete in the next two months, allowing the Shaheens to finally get out of ad hoc mode and have a solid think about how we want to grow.

The head coach’s job is going to be the most pressing issue as Myanmar visit the Jinnah Stadium in Islamabad on June 10, and retaining Stephen Constantine seems to be a widely prevailing thought. What the well-travelled Englishman will ask for (naturally, any coach in his position will) is the revival of the league in Pakistan and having sufficient preparations as we approach the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship in June, followed by qualifiers in October and November.

There are opportunities in September and November to carve out friendlies in Islamabad and perhaps the right time to capitalise on football’s immense audience potential by hosting a friendly tournament with two nations at home. The last home game drew nearly 21,000 supporters and a stable PFF that is able to market the national team and provide a sustained fixture schedule can allow for both football and commercial growth.

Similarly, while the men’s team has seen progress on the pitch, the women’s team is arguably the bigger hero, as they seem to have found their stride under coach Adeel Rizki and are only being held back due to the chronic lack of funding.

Pakistan’s performance at the SAFF Championship 2024 was massive and being able to nearly defeat Bangladesh (who scored late in injury time to get a draw) is an unbelievable turnaround, considering the same team beat Pakistan women 6-0 in 2022.

The ladies themselves face a stern test in the shape of Chinese Taipei, Indonesia and Kyrgyzstan in their own AFC Asian Qualifiers in June and, with the right mix of new players and preparation, will be in a decent position to cause surprises in the group.

However, what will underpin the growth of football in the country is the revamp and relaunch of the domestic structure, which has been moribund since 2015 apart from limited competitions.

Players simply aren’t playing competitive football, unless they are on international duty. And the only reason why this has not completely blown up in Pakistan’s face is that both senior teams have a large contingent of diaspora players who play outside of the country and haven’t been affected by the domestic structure.

Fixing the league for both the women’s and men’s teams is going to be a major project and needs to be done in the right manner — enabling investment into the game, giving employment to all stakeholders, including administrators, coaches and referees as well as players, and also ensuring long-term sustainability of whatever is started.

Naturally, the key cog in this situation is the election of the PFF president and the community in general is waiting to see how this pans out. Football has surely suffered enough in the last decade. Perhaps, 2025 will become the blessed year when the revival starts.

The writer is a sports management and marketing expert. X: @shahrukhsohail7

Published in Dawn, EOS, April 13th, 2025