ISLAMABAD: There could be a Pakistan football team featuring in a friendly match against Russia but it would not be sent by the country’s football governing body.

After the Pakistan Foot­ball Federation Norma­lisation Committee ref­used to send the national team for Friday’s international frie­ndly against Russia, saying it would rather like the game to be held in next month’s international window, the federal government has decided to send an alternate national team for the game.

Well-placed sources told Dawn that the federal government has given the go-ahead to the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) to send an alternate team of professional footballers to Russia as “Islamabad does not want to lose this opportunity to promote bilateral relations with Moscow”.

“The team is set to depart on Thursday,” they added, informing that the invitation by the Russian Minister of Sport was sent through diplomatic channels, “extending a formal request for Pakistan’s participation in the friendly match to strengthen bilateral relations between the two nations”.

“The PSB,” they added, “had been in touch with the PFF for the last 10 days but the FIFA-appointed NC said they weren’t in a position to send the team for the game.

“Russia was bearing the expenses for the match and Pakistan feared that skipping the opportunity will create a bad taste ahead of the Shanghai Corporation Organisation meeting, which is slated to take place in Islamabad next week.”

Despite multiple attempts, PFF NC chairman Haroon Malik did not respond to requests from Dawn for a comment.

A government official confirmed that alternate arran­gements had been made.

“Given the diplomatic importance of the invitation, alternative arrangements were made through proper channels, ensuring that a Pakistan squad could represent the country abroad,” he said. “Sports diplomacy has become a key aspect of international relations and the match is a crucial opportunity for Pakistan to showcase its football talent internationally and deepen ties with Russia.”

Russia had been banned by global football body FIFA and the European governing body UEFA for its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Although FIFA and UEFA ended their blanket ban on Russian teams in October last year, Russia remains barred from competitive tournaments although it has played several friendly matches, including against European opposition.

They beat Serbia 4-0 in March and then defeated Belarus by the same scoreline in Minsk in June.

Last month, they beat Vietnam 3-0 in Hanoi before their scheduled match against Indonesia as part of that three-nation tournament was cancelled due to Typhoon Yagi.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2024