Lahore
The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) has signed a partnership with Global Soccer Ventures (GSV) to launch the Pakistan Football League (PFL) — a franchise-based event — and upgrade the infrastructure for the sport in the country, according to a press release issued on Tuesday.
The statement noted that apart from delivering “Pakistan’s first domestic inter-city franchise league”, the new venture would also entail the construction of a state-of-the-art “flagship” stadium in Karachi.
Furthermore, the league would collaborate with top European football clubs. The federation, in its press release, said “this collaboration ensures funds are injected into Pakistan for the right reasons and for Pakistani football players so the nation can get its domestic football in order first.
“PFF has placed players at the heart of everything. PFL will help rebuild football in Pakistan by developing [a] new generation of players.
It is designed to create a new football ecosystem to place Pakistan’s players in top priority.”
“It is about time we take control to secure the future of Pakistan’s players,” Ashfaq Shah, the PFF president, was quoted as saying.
Shah vowed to have football recognised in the country as a professional sport and “give it the professional impetus to cultivate our national talent and help them compete at an international level on our own soil”.
GSV CEO Zabe Khan, meanwhile, said that there was “nothing” that could prevent a revival of football in Pakistan.
His strategy, he said, offered a solution through a combination of “infrastructure, international collaboration and a sensational league”.—Agencies
