LAHORE, Oct 8: Owing to late confirmation of the venue, Palestine has called off its football squad’s tour — to mark FIFA Day — to Pakistan, as the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) blamed the Sports Board Punjab (SBP) for the cancellation of the proposed two-match tour.

The matches, scheduled for Oct 14 and 16, would not be held as Palestine received late confirmation about the availability of the Punjab Stadium, the venue for the matches against Pakistan.

A PFF spokesman put all the responsibility of the cancellation on the Sports Board Punjab.

According to a PFF news release, due to the very late response from the SBP about the availability of Punjab Stadium, the Palestine Football Association was forced to cancel their team’s tour to Pakistan.

“Due to the late intimation from the SBP, the FIFA Day friendly matches with Palestine’s national football team were called off by the Palestine Football Association,” the PFF official stated.

The PFF spokesman also appealed to Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to take appropriate action against the SBP officers concerned.