Football authorities to seek help from ministry

KARACHI: Football authorities in the country will write a letter to the federal sports minister on Monday (today) to seek for his help to include football in the Asian Games slated to be held in China in November.

“We will request the federal sports minister through a letter which we are sending to him today that Pakistan had performed well in the previous Asian Games in Doha and keeping in view the past performance of the side it should be given a chance in the China Asian Games also,” the secretary of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) Col Ahmed Yar Khan Lodhi told ‘The News’.

He said that Chief de Mission of the previous Asian Games had also lauded the brilliant effort of the Pakistani footballers and therefore the discipline should have been included in the coming competitions.

“We will not keep silent and will strive our level best to convince the government to reconsider its decision of omitting football from the list of disciplines finalised for the Asian Games,” Lodhi said.

Pakistan had given tough time to the teams like Japan, North Korea and Syria during the Doha Asian Games held in December 2006. The government should have included in the list for the Asian Games those disciplines in which the country have medal winning chance and those in which the country have bright future, said the PFF official.