According to various reports, Pakistan Sports Board is set to send a ‘Pakistan Men’s Football Team’ to Russia to play a friendly match next week. This comes as a surprise as the team does not consist of National Team players but a random team assembled by the Sports Board, rather than the Pakistan Football Federation.
The decision could lead to serious repercussions as the circus around Pakistan Football continues.
The Pakistan men’s international team last played an international match in June as they took on Tajikistan in the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers. Since then, the team has not been able to take part in international friendlies due to lack of resources.
According to the Pakistan Football Federation Normalization Committee (NC) chairman, Haroon Malik, Russia was interested to play a friendly match against Pakistan in the current national window. But the match could not be held as the NC were unable to secure the funding from FIFA, which provides the funding for any such matches under the current circumstances of the PFF.
Despite PFF NC and FIFA’s decision to not send the team to Russia, the Pakistan Sports Board is insistent to send a makeshift team, which does not bode well for football in the country. If the match does go through, it could lead to a potential ban on football in the country as FIFA does not allow third-party interference in matters of the National Football Federation. But this is all conjecture.
The other part which makes it questionable is Russia’s insistence on playing a friendly against an unofficial Pakistan football team, which in theory should not even count towards the records. The whole situation casts a shadow of doubt on the legitimacy of the match.
Pakistan has already suffered multiple bans over the past few years which ultimately led to FIFA appointing a Normalization Committee. This could further lead to the destruction of the beautiful sport in the country.
While the match may take place to boost the egos of the higher-officials in the PSB, it will certainly lead to much bigger problems for a country already struggling to establish a proper football structure.
Please handover this sport to nawaz sharif and dar so they can kill the game.