Pak women footballers: All dressed up and nowhere to go?

Pakistan’s top women footballers are currently training in Islamabad for their biggest assignment of the year: the SAFF Cup – an event featuring teams from South Asia.

They are scheduled to fly out for Kathmandu on October 12 to feature in the event to be hosted by Nepal from October 17-30.

Their preparations are almost complete and the team’s seats have been booked for Saturday.

But there is a big possibility that they won’t go.

The reason: The team’s is yet to get a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB).

The government-appointed PSB has in fact refused to issue the much-needed NOC to the Nepal-bound team.

But team officials are hopeful that the permission will be given as PSB has a habit of issuing NOCs to touring teams at the very last minute.

PSB and its delaying tactics

When the Pakistan Under-17 team was going to Thimphu (Bhutan) for the SAFF Cup recently, PSB issued the NOC just before the squad’s departure from Islamabad.

The national karate side was given permission just two hours before its departure for China recently to compete in the Asian Championship.

For reasons unknown, the PSB chiefs have made it a habit of delaying the issuance of NOCs, creating a lot of problems from the country’s sports federations.

Meanwhile, the national women’s team remains hopeful that it would be competing in the Nepal event.

Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) Normalization Committee has already booked seats and the squad is scheduled to fly out of Islamabad on October 12 via Dubai.

The team has been undergoing training at Islamabad under head coach Adeel Rizki for the last one week.

Pakistan have been clubbed in Group A with India and Bangladesh while Group B carries Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka.

Pakistan will open their campaign with the game against India on October 17.

It would be a tough fight keeping in view the rivalry in sports between the two nations, although Pakistan women’s team is not that balanced.

Team coach exudes confidence

However, Adeel Rizki stressed that it would not be easy for India to beat Pakistan.

“We need to try to reach our full potential in this match. We intend to execute what we have been training for. On the given day anything can happen. I’m very confident that it won’t be easy for India,” Rizki told Nukta.

“So far the preparations are going well. The players are training well. Our objective is to ensure players are at peak performance levels for this tournament,” he said.

Rizki has been coaching women’s team for quite some time and must have known how to handle the side in such events.

He believes in his players but he is also aware of the long layoff as Pakistan played its last game in 2023.

“I have confidence in all my players and their abilities. Now it’s a matter of performing as a team. We would have liked to play more matches leading up to the tournament. The last game we played as a team was in September 2023,” Rizki said.

With the team just starting preparation only recently and it might be a matter of concern and the coach also admits that at least a month camp could have been more effective for preparation.

“As a coach I would have certainly liked to start early and have a month-long camp. Globally this is the amount of time national teams actually get before matches and friendlies. One difference is that they play regularly for their national and club teams,” said Rizki, who is UEFA-qualified coach.

Pakistan will begin their campaign against India on October 17 followed by a group-stage clash with Bangladesh on October 20. The matches will be played at 4:45 pm at the Dasharath Rangasala Stadium in Kathmandu.

In the 2022 SAFF Cup, Pakistan crashed out at the first hurdle. Pakistan had lost to India 0-3 and were whipped by Bangladesh 6-0. However, in their last match Pakistan crushed Maldives 7-0 but it was a case of too little too late.

In the 2014 edition which was held in Islamabad, Pakistan exited at the group stage. Sri Lanka and Nepal beat Pakistan 2-1 and 2-0, respectively. Pakistan, however, pulled off a consolation win by crushing Bhutan 4-1 in their last group game. In the 2012 edition held in Sri Lanka, Pakistan faced similar fate as they failed to go beyond group stage. They were beaten by Nepal 8-0, downed by Afghanistan 4-0 before they conquered Maldives 3-0.

Pakistan captain Maria Khan (R) and coach Adeel Rizki (L) can be seen during a training session in Islamabad.PFF

In the inaugural edition held in Bangladesh Pakistan reached the semi-finals but lost that 0-8 to India.

Earlier in the group stage Pakistan beat Maldives 2-1, conquered Afghanistan 3-0 before Nepal whipped Pakistan 12-0.

However, both sides reached the semi-finals. India have won the initial five editions while the previous event was won by Bangladesh. In the semi-final India had been beaten by Nepal 1-0.

Pakistan squad: Goalkeepers: Nisha Ashraf, Mafia Parveen and Rumaysa Khan; Defenders: Kayla Siddiqui, Mishal Bhatti, Sarah Khan, Nizalia Siddiqi, Sophia Quershi, Fatima Nasir and Mehreen Khan; Midfielders: Suha Hirani, Maria Khan, Sanah Mehdi, Amina Hanif, Rameen Fareed and Kayanat Bhokari; Forwards: Nadia Khan, Zahmena Malik, Isra Khan, Anmol Hira, Anushay Usman and Alia Sadiq