PFF turn down opportunity to play Uzbekistan in Dubai
Wednesday, February 15th, 2012 12:49:59 by Shahrukh Sohail
The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) is set to be without a fixture on the FIFA match day this February after turning down the chance to play Asian giants Uzbekistan in Dubai.
The FIFA match dates this month were expected to be utilized in order to let Zavisa Milosavljevic experiment with new formations and test new players. However the PFF have seemingly turned down a glorious opportunity to play one of Asia’s biggest teams in
a neutral venue citing the reason as a lack of funds.
Speaking to reporters, PFF Secretary Ahmed Yar Khan Lodhi revealed that Uzbekistan had offered to play the Green-Kickers in Dubai, but the Federation turned it down as they could not afford to do so.
“It’s only fair if these countries send teams to Pakistan. If they can’t, then they should host the series — that’s how professional teams play. Since they don’t want to host, Uzbekistan suggested we come to Dubai, which is not feasible for us. It’s very
expensive and in the same amount, we can host a series conveniently.”
He also added that there were no problems in conducting friendlies in Pakistan, as demonstrated by the visit of Malaysia and Palestine last year and that there could be games played with the likes of Maldives, Sri Lanka and Nepal in May.
“Malaysia and Palestine came to Pakistan last year and we hosted the matches successfully so why can’t Uzbekistan.”
“Maldives, Sri Lanka and Nepal have asked us about friendly matches and are willing to come to Pakistan. But they’re available in May since their players are busy in their domestic seasons right now.”
The camp scheduled for the friendlies will now kick-off a bit later than expected as the match dates go wasted, with the PFF missing yet another rare opportunity to play a top side due to their age old excuse.
Tags: FIFA Match Date, PFF, Uzbekistan, Zavisa MilosavljevicShort URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=12789
Posted by Shahrukh Sohail
on Feb 15 2012. Filed under Pakistan, Sports.
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