Last June, Michael Owen and Emile Heskey revived their once-feared partnership to travel to Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi and spearhead promotion of the Pakistan Football League, a new franchise-based tournament that was due to start in November and come to a head around now. “Pakistan is a nation with a real passion for the game, and while many will say that cricket is the country’s main sport, the fact that there are 3.4 million registered footballers in Pakistan tells you just how popular the game is,” Owen said.
The reaction to the visit (which, according to reports, also included officials from European clubs as well as Michael Knighton of short-lived Manchester United ownership fame) was mixed. Some football-starved fans in this nation of 240 million were excited at the prospect of professional football and big names. Others felt that the country actually needed a proper national league and an organised pyramid before thinking about add-ons. The kick-off never came, but now there are bigger problems to deal with. Last week Fifa suspended Pakistan from international football, a third ban in eight years.
“It’s a dagger to the heart and I don’t know how they will recover from another ban,” Stephen Constantine, whose contract as Pakistan head coach ended in November, says.
The first ban, back in 2017, was owing to third-party interference after the Lahore High Court got involved in the running of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF). That was lifted after five months in March 2018. Four years ago a group led by former PFF officials stormed the body’s headquarters, occupied by the Fifa-appointed Normalisation Committee (NC) put in place to organise new elections. The ensuing ban lasted more than a year. Not that much has changed since. The long-awaited elections that were supposed to be held have yet to take place and a dispute over the rules has led to the latest sanction.
Ban number three stems from the PFF’s congress last month when 19 out of 25 members rejected constitutional amendments demanded by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and Fifa, including widening the eligibility criteria for candidates who wanted to run for election. Fifa responded with the ultimate sanction on a federation that depends more than most on the funds that come from the world governing body. “The PFF has been suspended with immediate effect due to its failure to adopt a revision of the PFF Constitution that would ensure truly fair and democratic elections and thereby fulfil its obligations as mandated by Fifa as part of the ongoing normalisation process of PFF,” Fifa wrote. “The suspension will only be lifted subject to the PFF Congress approving the version of the PFF Constitution presented by Fifa and the AFC.”
For Constantine, who has also led the national teams of India, Nepal, Sudan and Rwanda, the solution is simple, even if it is evidently difficult for those involved in the game. “My message is that you have to put your personal interests aside and think about the football,” he says. “Obviously, they haven’t been able to do that. All you have to do is to think: ‘What is best for Pakistan football?’ Then you will make the right decision. I don’t know what Fifa is asking for is any different than any association. Fifa is the governing body. You don’t have to like it but, if you want to play football, you have to adhere to it.”
Even during ban-free times, there wasn’t much football played. Under Constantine, Pakistan had their best result in years. In October 2023, they beat a strongly fancied Cambodia to reach the second round of World Cup qualification for the first time. Incredibly, that Islamabad victory was a first home game for nine years. It meant six more qualifiers – including two against Roberto Mancini’s Saudi Arabia – and a good deal of excitement. “There was such a buzz, just walking around in Islamabad and people were shouting about the team,” remembers Constantine.
A lack of a nationwide league, among other things, made it hard to build on those good vibes – Constantine would settle for state leagues – and now all football has stalled. If the ban is not lifted by 4 March, the men’s national team will be kicked out of qualification for the 2027 Asian Cup which starts three weeks later. They have an interesting group, containing Syria, Afghanistan and Myanmar. Pakistan are never going to finish first and book that place in Saudi Arabia – not coming last would be a sign of progress for a team ranked 198th in the world – but just having competitive games is important.
Had all been well, Constantine may have received a request to return. “Last month, the captain was calling me asking about plans for March’s qualifiers,” he says. “There was also the South Asian Cup later in the year which would have meant more games.” It’s not just the men. The women were preparing to enter their first ever qualification campaign for the Asian Cup in June.
It is all very depressing for what could be a major power in Asian football. Big name stars and new leagues sound good, but a bit of Owen and Heskey-style teamwork is what Pakistani football needs at the moment. Then the hard work really starts.
