Pakistan Football’s Saudi Training Camp Uncertain Due to Financial Restraints

Pakistan Football team was expected to travel to Saudi Arabia two days prior to the training camp which was going to commence from January 10. The camp was expected to be held till January 30, 2024.

The team was expected to schedule club friendlies with Saudi local clubs for the preparation of the upcoming FIFA World Cup Qualifier Round 2 matches, in March against the likes of Jordan.

It has been reported that, PFF did not get any FIFA grants since May 11, 2023 and the resources to fund an international training camp in Saudi Arabia are seemingly scarce.

Pakistan is currently at the bottom of the table in Group G of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers after two matches in which they faced thumping defeats against Saudi Arabia and Tajikistan, 4-0 and 6-1 respectively.

According to a credible news outlet, Haroon Malik, the President of Pakistan Football Federation, Normalization Committee, is on a one-month break and has flown back to Canada.

FIFA and AFC (Asian Football Confederation) has directed the PFF Normalization Committee to complete the electoral process by 15 March, so that the power can be handed over to the elected body.

Meanwhile, Jordan defeated Qatar 2-1 and they have one more friendly scheduled with Japan, before the AFC Asian Cup 2023 group stage games. Jordan will face Bahrain, Malaysia, South Korea in the group stage matches.

In retrospect, Jordan will play 5 international games before facing Pakistan in March 2024. On the other hand, Pakistan are likely to not even play club friendlies in January.

It seems like Pakistan Football is right now in sleep mode and will probably wake up in March, hopefully by that time it won’t be too late.