Turkish soccer giants to tour Pakistan

Published November 23, 2003

LAHORE, Nov 22: Turkish football giants Besiktas will tour Pakistan from Jan 7 to 10 to play against Pakistan senior side, Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) said on Saturday.

The Turkish club is coming on the invitation of President Gen Pervez Musharraf, the PFF spokesman said.

The official said that PFF president Faisal Saleh Hayat was willing that at least one game be played in each provincial capital, but the club had confirmed it would play one match.

Besiktas are one of the leading clubs of Turkey and would arrive here through its chartered plane.

The spokesman said announcement of the Pakistan team for World Cup pre-qualifying match against Kyrgyzstan had been delayed after the PFF president left for Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah on Saturday.  

The names of the selected players had been faxed to the president and the final team was expected soon, the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, the president PFF appointed Syed Taneem and Major (retd) Hamid Ali finance and administration directors.  PFF had already appointed Arif Rahim as marketing director.

The appointments were being made under the Asian Vision Programme (AVP) of Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

Under the programme seven more appointments for different departments are to be made before the start of AVP from Jan 1, 2004.

The spokesman said PFF had decided to connect all the provincial football associations with PFF through computer for smooth working.

A two-member PFF delegation comprising Taneem and executive secretary Farooq Mir will attend an AFC seminar for the Financial Aid Programme of FIFA in Dubai on Dec 11.

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