KARACHI, May 2: There was a time when Karachi footballers used to have a lion’s share in the selection of national teams but the situation has reversed since the creation of Bangladesh, power struggle between district association officials and disbanding of a number of departmental teams. Dhaka, capital of former East Pakistan, was the market for Karachi footballers who used to fetch handsome amount of money by playing in the league, as well as treated as heroes and a full house used to watch them in action.

Another aspect was that by playing in Dhaka their performance improved greatly and back home they were the automatic choice for selection in the national squad. The yester year stars Usman Jan, Moosa Ghazi, Turab, Umer, Ali Nawaz, Abdullah Rahi, Maula Bux Momin to name a few, still stand tall in the history of the game.

Football, the game of masses, however, remained confined to Lyari, Keamari and some parts of Malir as far as Karachi is concerned. The heyday of football was over with the creation of Bangladesh which dealt a lethal blow to the game. But despite that, the activities continued round the year as players got jobs in departments.

The decision by employers like, Muslim Commercial Bank (MCB), Pakistan Automobile Corporation (PACO), Dockyard House, House Building Finance Corporation (HBFC), Awami Autos, Shipyard, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) etc to disband their football teams came as the last nail in the game’s coffin in the city.

“The miseries of footballers started as the poor got poorer and whatever stability he had, came to an end. With the emergence of new departments outside the city, the football scene shifted to upcountry,” Muhammad Siddiq Sheikh, former national coach told Dawn.

The departments which have football teams with headquarters in Lahore or Islamabad are Khan Research laboratories (KRL), Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda), Allied Bank Limited (ABL) and Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited (PTCL).

“Lyari had so much potential that it used to dictate terms which is evident from the fact that eleven out of 16-member national outfit were from the same locality,” chairman, Sindh Football Association, Ghulam Abbas Baloch said.

Due to inflation and lack of sponsorship, the game activities slowed down in the city, which has approximately 700 affiliated clubs and an enormous number of players.

The KMC Stadium famous for holding all Pakistan tournaments round the year, now wear a deserted look. The Peoples Sports Complex is not properly maintained and out of use since long.

When Mian Muhammad Azhar was at the helm of affairs Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) struck an historic deal spread over five years, with a multinational company for the betterment of sport.

Though the players were duly rewarded when their teams recorded victories in ‘A’ and ‘B’ division league, but at the same time there were allegations of misuse of funds. The differences between Mian Azhar and the then PFF secretary, Hafiz Salman Butt also came as a blow to the game.

Although FIFA has pumped millions of dollars into the PFF coffers in the name of goal project, Pakistan’s performance is not encouraging as it is ranked 35th in Asia and 178th in the world.

Recently, the team lost both of its matches to Morocco and Malaysia in the just concluded Islamic Games in Saudi Arabia.

Pakistan’s last good performance came in the 2004 SAF Games held at Islamabad where the home team had the better of arch rivals India by a solitary goal in the final, and clinched gold. The victorious team earned a purse of Rs4 million as reward — Rs3 million from the government and the remaining from the PFF.

“The good aspect of the PFF is that it has five teams of different tiers simultaneously — under-13, under-14, under-17, under-20 and the national team which consists of under-23 players,” said Abbas Baloch while defending the PFF.

With the launch of FIFA Goal Project that will house PFF headquarters under one roof at Lahore’s Qadhafi Stadium, the pace of work has accelerated, but who will revive the game in Karachi?