LAHORE, Pakistan: Pakistan’s football chief yesterday said he was confident about hosting qualifying matches for the AFC’s under-16 championship despite a bomb attack that killed eight young football fans in Karachi last week.
Pakistan has been a “no go” area for foreign teams since the 9/11 attacks on the United States in 2001 and the ensuing war on terror which sparked security fears in the South Asian country.
Terrorists attacks on the Sri Lankan cricket team bus in Lahore four years ago washed away all hopes of Pakistan staging any cricketing or international sporting event.
Eight people were killed in a bomb blast last week after a day-night football match in the Karachi’s Lyari slum, an area famous for producing quality players.
But Pakistan Football Federation President Makhdoom Saleh Hayat said the Asian Football Confederation had given a go-ahead to the qualifiers in October.
“The AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa has been kind enough to give us the go-ahead and I am sure the successful staging of the qualifiers will open doors for more sporting event in the country,” Hayat said.
The PFF staged the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President’s Cup in 2011 and has also hosted age group events with foreign participations over the past three years. AFP
