KARACHI, Dec 12: Uncertainty surrounds the on-going national soccer camp as the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) has appointed two head coaches at the same time for the forthcoming events.

The present situation has left the two coaches playing guessing game as they are unaware who is the chief coach and who is the assistant.

The training camp has been set up in Islamabad from Dec 10 for the Saarc Gold Cup in Jan in Dhaka, and SAF Games in March to be hosted by the federal capital.

PFF first asked Tariq Lutfi to report but the uncertainty cropped up when another coach, Akhtar Mohiuddin, also reached Islamabad Thursday on the directives of the PFF.

Interestingly, both the coaches have been named as national coaches until SAF Games in the official letters they received from the PFF late November.

“There is an uncertainty as both of us (Tariq and Akhtar) have been stated as national coaches in the official letters. I will approach the PFF office in Lahore tomorrow to know who will be the chief so that we can start regular training,” Akhtar said.

Surprizingly, in the official documents of the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB), foreign coach, Jozef Herel, has also been included apart from Akhtar and Tariq.

PSB has been providing boarding, lodging, and food at Jinnah Stadium to the officials and the 26 called up probables.

However, initially, only Herel and Akhtar were included and Tariq’s name was added later by the PSB on the PFF’s request.

Herel, assigned by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) under its development fund programme, also visited Islamabad last Wednesday but returned to Lahore later the same evening due to unknown reasons.

Tariq claimed as Herel was due to be released after the suspension of the AFC aid he returned after handing the charge officially to him.

However, PFF officials had a different story as they clearly stated Herel had been deputed to supervise the camp, while Tariq would be his deputy.

“Herel will be the chief coach, while Tariq will assist him,” vice-president PFF, Abbas Baloch, and executive secretary Farooq Mir said.

The coaches said although they had been given a Dec 15 deadline to submit a 25-member provisional squad to the PFF, only 19 trainees of 26 had reached the venue including four players who reported late Thursday night.

They said as 26 probables had already been selected by Herel it was almost impossible to invite few more deserving players which they admitted had been overlooked.

“We may add some deserving players but only after Dhaka event as we don’t have time for that, Tariq said.