KARACHI Pakistan football custodians have chosen Peoples Sports Complex as one of the venues for Premier League, although the facility is in a dilapidated condition and certainly not ready for the prestigious event.
The sports complex, situated in soccer-crazy Lyari, is undoubtedly one of the best sporting facilities in the country, it is a picture of neglect and decay.
A visit to the complex by Dawn.com showed that the football pitch could be used for kabbadi matches as it hardly looked like a surface which is scheduled to host the Premier League matches which kick off from July 25 throughout the country.
While there were large patches of barren land, the surface was also plagued by water-logging. While the football field was devoid of grass from several places, there were several spots which had sandy and uneven surface along with thick tufts of grass. Not only will it be troublesome for the players to play on the uneven and barren surface, it also can causes injuries to the players.
Gaping manholes for sewerage, as wide as three feet, at the sidelines may also create problems during play with the ball dropping in them. As usual, the so-called electronic scoreboard was in a shambles and could well serve as pigeonholes.
The stadium was in as bad a condition as was the pitch. Broken chairs were tainted with birds droppings, while pye-dogs, who have always created a nuisance during the international and local matches with their weaving runs across the pitch, were seen roaming all over the place.
The current Pakistan football coach George Kottan, who was Bangladesh coach during the Under-20 Asian qualifiers few years ago, had termed the ground "perfect for rugby", while his counterpart from Maldives Mohamed Athif had also criticised the bumpy pitch.
The complex, which was inaugurated on Dec 9, 1995, also houses an international standard boxing stadium having a seating capacity of about 1,800, changing rooms, indoor gymnasium, apart from the football stadium which also has hosted SAFF championship in 2005 and World Cup qualifiers.
According to Deputy District Officer, Shams Noor Masoodi, although the paramilitary Rangers have vacated some portions of the complex, it is still under their use since mid-1990s. Lately, the gymnasium was used for a "tea break" for the newly deployed Rangers troops who have relieved the previous batch few days ago.
Interestingly, Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) has announced Peoples Sports Complex as one of the venues, but Shams says that the federation has not informed City District Government Karachi (CDGK) about the Premier league matches.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) had refused to give Pakistan hosting rights of AFC Presidents Cup few years ago since PFF didnt inform the CDGK about the inspectors arrival who reported the stadium not suitable for the event which was later awarded to Nepal.
If Premier League matches are really to be played here, I have no knowledge about it so far. PFF should have intimated us so that we can ask for NOC from the CDGK higher-ups, said Shams.
The CDGK official said although a staff of about 78 should be on duty, only 45 were available while others had been deputed at other CDGK facilities.
This complex was built at the cost of more than Rs100million and, according to rules, it should get at least 10 per cent of the total cost which is Rs10million as annual grant for maintenance. But we receive not more than Rs one million per year, he said.
Ironically, while top class sporting facility will be hosting prestigious events matches despite being in a shambles, the PFF has decided not to include CDGK Stadium as the Premier League venue, although the traditional hub of soccer is in a lush green condition.
Inaugurated in 1962, the CDGK Stadium (previously known as KMC Stadium) has hosted teams which now are international giants and some of them also feature in the World Cup. Among the giants who played on the CDGK surface are Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Russia, China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia.
While it is believed that PFFs decision came after a rift with the CDGK Stadium caretaker Ahmad Jan who is a harsh critic of federations policies, the PFF had not been organizing any activity for the last year and a half in the stadium for reasons better known to them.
Instead, the PFF has decided to go for Peoples Sports Complex and couple of other venues in Federal B Area which will certainly deprive many a soccer buff of watching the games as CDGK is more centralized and attracts huge crowd.
