ISLAMABAD George Kottan will continue as the national football team's coach while also being tasked to engineer a strong squad for upcoming South Asian Games.

“The Austrian coach is not on his way out. He [Kottan] is going to stay,” a Congress member of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) told Dawn on condition of anonymity on Monday.

“We know the team performed badly in the South Asian Football Federation [SAFF] Championship but its overall performance has been rather good. The national squad, under Kottan's training, has gained a better technical strategy and physical fitness.”

The team returned empty handed from the recent SAFF Championship held in Bangladesh when it finished at No 4 in its pool 'B'. The poor show also resulted in the PFF's having to face criticism from the National Assembly Standing Committee on Sports.

The Congress member added “The Congress during its recent meeting analyzed the performance of the coach as well as the national squad and decided on giving the Austrian coach another chance in the form of the South Asian Games assignment.”

The 11th South Asian Games are scheduled to be held in Bangladesh from Jan 29 to Feb 8. “The target set for George is simple. The PFF only wants to see the national team reaching the podium,” he said.

PFF Secretary Col Ahmed Yar Khan Lodhi, when approached, added “The Pakistan team in the South Asian Games has potential to reach the podium. However, we are only facing one difficulty — a good football ground to train at.”

He said “We do have a good ground next to the Football House in Lahore but it is not like the Jinnah Stadium ground. But the Pakistan Sports Board [PSB] is not providing us the Jinnah Stadium ground despite our repeated requests,” he said.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the PSB was of the view “The Pakistan football team training camp started too late. We have no issues about providing them the ground but where are the players going to stay now as we no longer have room to accommodate them at the hostel.

“We have also taken stringent measures for the national athletes' security, a top priority,” he added.

“Besides, I wonder why the federation is constantly complaining about the unplayable conditions at the football ground in Lahore. The FIFA Football House there is the best available facility for them to train for the big event,” he concluded.