Lack of attendance, enthusiasm at football camp
The national training camp is running without the coach who is on his annual leave.
The national training camp for the Games, which was set up on Dec 15 at the Punjab Stadium, Lahore, is running without the national Coach George Kottan, who is on his annual leave back at home in Austria. Moreover, only 13 out of the 22 probables are attending the camp.
Furthermore, the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) is also not happy over the decision of the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) for setting up the camp in Lahore instead of at the Sports Complex in Islamabad.
“The holy month of Muharram and Christmas are two reasons due to which the training camp has yet to find momentum,” Assistant Coach Shahzad Anwar told Dawn on Thursday.
The games are scheduled to be held in Dhaka, Bangladesh, from Jan 29 to Feb 9.
“Some players are on the injury list while some are on leave due to rest or due to Muharram. As for Coach Kottan, he is spending Christmas in Austria,” Shahzad, an AFC ‘A’ License coach, informed.
“While Kottan is scheduled to join the camp on Jan 4, the missing players will be reporting on Dec 29,” he said.
He said that they are currently holding a conditioning camp. Those attending it are Aamir Gul, Bilal Rafique, Haji Mohammad, Jehangir, Ali Ihsan, Mohammad Wasim, Abbas Ali, Adeem Shahzad, Rizwan Asif, Zubair Ahmed, Mohammad Adil, Mohammad Idrees and Asif Mehmood.
Shahzad said that Ghulam Nabi and Mohammad Ahmed were on the injury list, while Akram Masih was also on leave.
The other absentees allowed rest are Arif Mahmood, Mohammad Shahid, Ali Mohammad, Abdul Aziz, Jadeed Khan and Aurangzeb. Meanwhile, four England-based boys playing abroad might not be able to attend the training camp at all, Shahzad said.
He, however, negated the impression that the situation would not help in raising a formidable team for the event.
“Our playing XI is almost the same that has been playing together for the last two months. They will gel rather well soon after joining the camp,” he hoped.
However, when contacted, PFF’s Secretary Ahmad Yar Lodhi said Kottan was availing his one-month annual leave as he, too, needed to be at home with his family on the occasion of Christmas.
When pointed out that national duty demanded more sincerity since the team is looking to complete a hat-trick of wins in the event, he said that Kottan had assured them that the three-week training would be enough to prepare the team for the event.
“Kottan is also of the view, that the physical condition of the players is more important prior to holding a proper training camp. And he thinks that his assistant Shahzad Anwar is quite capable of doing the job in his absence,” he said.
Lodhi showed more concern over the decision of the PSB for organising the camp in Lahore while turning down PFF’s request to set it up in Islamabad.
“The Islamabad Sports Complex has far better facilities as compared to the Punjab Stadium but the PSB did not agree with the PFF on holding the men’s camp there,” he said.
“There are no gym facilities at the Punjab Stadium. The ground at Islamabad is more levelled, too. We won the last two editions of the regional event only because of having trained in Islamabad,” the PFF secretary announced.
“I can’t understand the strategy of the PSB as it has allowed the women football camp to be set up in Islamabad but has opted for the Punjab Stadium for the men while caring little for their needs for better facilities in order to complete the hat-trick,” he said.
He added that the Pakistan women’s team had no chance of winning, too, but with better facilities the men were quite able of taking the title for a third time.
Pakistan won the title in 1989, 1991, 2004 and 2006.
The secretary said that the PFF was trying to arrange a tour of the national team most probably in Qatar before competing in the championship,” he said.
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