Future of Pakistani football

THE ongoing World Cup has drawn greater attention to the state of football in Pakistan. Some of this attention is also down to Pakistan’s highly laudable victory in the recently concluded Diamond Jubilee tournament — the first tournament victory for the team in decades. Snapping a 900-day drought, Pakistan was able to beat higher-ranked opposition across three straight matches. Going by online spaces, there are plenty of people emotionally (and otherwise) invested in the growth of football in the country. For some long-time football fans, such as myself, the Pakistani team’s performance matters for a host of cultural reasons. The recent decline of the cricket team and disillusionment with the way that sport is managed leave a vacuum for sporting representation. But beyond the mere partisan or tribal affinity of fandom, football offers other interesting social prospects. It is a truly global sport, offering growth and scale for athletes at a level no other sport does. Domestically, it has the potential of being a truly national sport in Pakistan, with some of the best players in the country emerging from the so-called geographic peripheries. The contrast with cricket is apparent, where, apart from recent intake from KP, cricket remains confined to tier-1 and tier-2 cities in Punjab and the metropolis of Karachi. This is partly a function of the diverging resource requirements in the two sports. Football, at the recreational level, requires merely an open space and a ball. Cricket, on the other hand, has had to adapt at the recreational level and create an entirely different form of the game (tape-ball) to thrive in what remains a poor and space-starved country. The disconnect between the recreational and professional levels are thus much higher. Domestically, football has the potential of being a truly national sport in the country. What is the pathway towards a more promising future for football in Pakistan? Experts and enthusiasts continue to deliberate on the matt