August 3, 2003	Sunday	Jumadi-us-Sani 4, 1424

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KARACHI, Aug 2: Plans to launch National Football League have been delayed indefintely due to the refusal of Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) to accept lucrative financial offer from the sponsors.

The PFF officials are yet to start the league, although more than two years have gone by when the PFF was asked by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to start it.

Football, the game which is struggling to get proper attention in the country, was further damaged when PFF was approached by government-owned PTCL with an attractive package, but the plan did not materialize owing to PFF officials’ apathy.

PTCL had offered the PFF full sponsorship for the league, but the proposal was rejected by the PFF saying it did not want PTCL to handle the financial affairs.

“PTCL had taken the initiative and contacted the PFF president Mian Mohammad Azhar two or three years ago. We were willing to fully finance the league on the condition that PFF would allow us to run it,” PTCL director sports Zafar Iqbal Gondal said on Saturday.

PTCL official said it was the condition put by his department which became the bone of contention as the PFF wanted to deal all the financial matters by itself.

“It would have been a great show had PFF made a deal. We had plans to invest Rs1.4million for a season spanning over three to five months. But I think PFF hierarchy neither knows anything about the sport nor is sincere in promoting it,” he said.

PTCL was contemplating offering at least Rs0.1million to the winning team of the league with cash prizes for the runners-up, best player and goalkeeper of the tournament.

Zafar said it were ill intentions of the PFF that it did not agree to give PTCL charge of the finances and added PFF officials merely wanted to organize what he said `fake tournaments’ to receive hefty grants from AFC and FIFA.

The PTCL official, however, said his department’s doors were still open and the offer was intact but it was not ready to budge in on its earlier stance.

“PTCL still wants to sponsor the event but only if it is allowed to host it without any interference from the PFF in the financial matters,” he said.

The national league is one of the basic pre-requisites to get aid from the AFC and the continental body of the sport has repeatedly asked the PFF to initiate the league. But officials at the helm have failed to translate their words into action.

PFF had planned to begin the league last December, but put the matter on the back burner due to reasons better known to them. AFC has given several deadlines to PFF since then to start the league.

Former coach Jozef Herel had also suggested the PFF to start the league to expand the base of the game and the pool of the players.

AFC vice-president Manilal Fernando is yet to fulfil his last year’s promise of finding sponsors for the league. The official had vowed he would lend a helping hand to the PFF by exploring ways and means for seeking sponsors.

“A semi-professional league will be initiated in Pakistan for which I will be helping out PFF. I will visit Pakistan along with my marketing team to seek sponsors for the league,” the official had said last year in July.

Fernando had admitted it was unprofessional attitude of the present PFF top brass that soccer had failed to take-off in Pakistan.

“It is simply because of unprofessional people running football who don’t have time for the game that it is not prospering in Pakistan. Once the professional people take over the charge, things will start changing,” Fernando had told Dawn last July.

Ironically, a Karachi-based club Karachi United are successfully organizing ten-team Rs80,000 league in the city and have also found financiers.

Meanwhile, PFF is still groping in the dark despite having instructions from FIFA to hire at least four full-time paid officials to run day-to-day affairs.

The four heads which are to be hired are for finance, administration, technical and sustained youth development, and competition, to give the professional activity a kick start.