THE street children of Lyari have proved their worth by winning the bronze at the Street Child World Cup in Brazil. Unlike cricket, football has been an unfortunate game in Pakistan as it has always been neglected, rather crushed by the self-serving mafia.

A vast majority of younger generation likes football, yet this game has never been given its due place by those at the helm of affairs. This often results in poor performance by our football team at international competitions.

This poor performance is not because the country lacks talent; instead, this is due to the indifferent attitude of successive governments towards this popular game.

The younger generation of Lyari and Balochistan has a passion for football no less than the Brazilians and Argentinians. With the promotion of football, the younger generation’s energies can easily be diverted into positive activity.

Regrettably, the media, especially the electronic media, does not cover football like it covers cricket. It is time the government and the media focused on football instead of cricket.

Abdul Samad Channa

Karachi

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2014