Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) Normalization Committee (NC) Chairperson, Haroon Malik, has requested the national authorities to prepare at least one football stadium where the national men’s team can play at night time during the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification matches.
Critical issue is Government needs to ensure at least one facility in our country where we can have night matches. FIFA standard is 1800 lumens. We must be able to host our March and June matches in Pakistan!
— Haroon M. (@GotT0_) November 23, 2023
Malik indicated that FIFA’s requirement is 1,800 lumens, while Jinnah Stadium, Islamabad’s current output is 350 lumens.
Lumens is a measurement of how much light one gets from a blub/light source.
Pakistan’s next home assignment is against Jordan on 21 March 2024. Muslims will be observing the month of Ramadan during this time period, which means that playing and spectating the match during daylight will be next to impossible, so a match during nighttime is the viable option.
After the Jordan match, Pakistan will host Asian giants Saudi Arabia on 6 June 2024. Pakistan experiences peak summer during this time, so a day match at that time wouldn’t be possible.
It is necessary to start preparing the stadium from today because if it isn’t, PFF might need to shift the matches from Pakistan to a neutral location which won’t be beneficial for the home side. Pakistan has stadiums in Islamabad, Karachi, and Lahore, but the closest stadium to FIFA approval looks like Jinnah Stadium, so it is important to renovate it in due time.
