KARACHI, Dec 7: While organizers spent every ounce of their energies on pomp and pageantry, SAFF championship’s opening day was a nightmare for the media. Since the designated place for print media could not be built on time, both print and electronic media personnel had to be accommodated in the electronic media box lacking basic facilities.

Perhaps the organizers did not have idea about the requirements of the media as neither there were desks nor television sets in the media box. To rub salt to wounds, media had to wait for some 20 minutes for the Pakistan-Sri Lanka match line-ups.

Journalists covering the event, including foreign reporters, had to run from pillar to post to get the official scoresheet but in vain.

While rules and regulation say that coaches should attend the post-match press conference immediately after the match, the conference room never saw the activity after both matches.

Interestingly, the rules and regulations list provided by the organizers says that “refusal to adhere to these regulations may result in your expulsion from the stadium and you may also be refused entry to future SAFF events.”

Organizers were left red-faced when they failed to play Pakistan’s national anthem before the kick off. They tried at least thrice but played some national song instead. Finally, some lady sang the national anthem.

Media had to bear mental agony when the digital clock suddenly stopped in the Afghanistan-Maldives match first half, while electronic scoreboard was missing and organizers used manual facility.