Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) will send a football club to next year’s SAFF (South Asian Football Federation) Club Championship, but the departments are unhappy with this development.
Football departments in Pakistan, such as KRL (Khan Research Laboratories), NBP (National Bank of Pakistan), etc. feel left out as they won’t be representing Pakistan in the multi-national event.
One of the three football clubs: (1) Afghan FC (2) Muslim FC (3) Baloch FC (Nushki), will represent Pakistan in the SAFF event, as the departments don’t qualify for the Championship.
In the last concluded 2018/19 Pakistan Premier League, Muslim FC came 10th, Afghan FC came 11th and Baloch FC came 14th out of 16 teams. This is one of the concerns of the departments that a weak football team will represent Pakistan in an international event.
According to KRL’s Sports Director, they spend approximately 20 million PKR (Pakistani rupees) on salaries (annually) for the players. He believes that such a move by PFF indicates that they want the departments to be abolished.
KRL’s head coach and Pakistan’s most successful goal-scorer Mohammad Essa has said that if the departments aren’t shown respect, they might decide to boycott the upcoming PFF Challenge Cup, a cup designed just for departments to play each other.
SAFF Club Championship will commence in 2024, with 16 teams participating in it. Four each from India and Bangladesh, three from Maldives, two from Nepal and one each from Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bhutan.
Source: Pro Pakistani