Naveed, Mehmood return from successful Nepalese stint

Alam Zeb Safi [The News]

KARACHI: Pakistan footballers Naveed Akram and Mehmood Ali have
 returned home after a successful stint with a Nepali club Saraswoti Youth
 Club (SYC) during the Nepal Martyr’s Memorial A Division League 2011
 which concluded in Kathmandu recently.

Defender Naveed and midfielder Mehmood were hired by the SYC, which
 had their first appearance in the Nepal’s top league and successfully averted
 relegation, and finished 13th out of 18 outfits which fought each other o
n single league system.

Both players, who are currently playing for WAPDA during the Pakistan
 Premier Football League, represented the debutants SYC for two months
 (May 17-July 17) in the three-month-long league which was played at two 
venues in the Nepal capital.

Mehmood Ali was part of the Pakistan team during all the international
 assignments which the country undertook under Austrian coach George 
Kottan from February 2009 to February 2010 while Naved Akram was the 
member of the national team which won gold medals in the 2004 Islamabad
 and 2006 Colombo South Asian Games. Both the players earned
 Rs200,000 each during their two-month association with the Nepali club.

“It was a good experience for me,” Naved Akram told ‘The News’ here in an
 interview.

“Our club was appearing in the top league for the first time and has been
 able to avert relegation. We put in our best and the club is very happy with
 us,” Naveed said.

The club is more likely to hire the services of few more Pakistani players for
 the next season.

“I have been told that next time I will have to bring in three or four more players
,” the 27-year old Multan born Naveed said.

“There were around 55 to 60 foreign players, most of them African, playing
 in the Nepal’s A Division league. There were players of Uganda, Tanzania
 and other African states and their presence had instilled a life in the 
league which we don’t see here in Pakistan,” Naveed said.

He said that Nepal Football Association (NFA) have earned great money 
through gate-fee because of the enthusiastic crowd watching the league encounters.

Meanwhile, Quetta-born Mehmood Ali was also satisfied with his stint for the
 club and was hopeful that he would serve the club next season as well.ire the
 services f five foreign players for the league as per rules.

8th Pakistan Football Premier League 2011

25-07-2011 - Today 1st Match played between Baloch FC and PAF at  Sadiq Shaheed Football Stadium Quetta at 14:30 Hours  PAF team given walkover in favor of Baloch FC  _______________________________________________________________  Today 2nd Match played between Muslim FC and NAVY Shaheed  Football Stadium Quetta at 17:00 Hours  NAVY won by 1 – 2  Goals scored by Mr. Basharat Ahmed in 32nd minute & Mr. Asif Bux in  76th minute from and Mr. Abdul Qadeer in 52nd minute from Muslim FC  _________________________________________________________________ Today 3rd Match played between NBP and PMC FC at KPT Football  Stadium Karachi at 17:00 Hours  NBP won by 2 – 0  Goal scored by Mr. M. Ashfaq in 18th minute and Adil Ahmed in  54th minute from NBP  Yellow card seen by Adil Ahmed in 6th minute of NBP team and  Shahbaz Ahmed in 61st minute of PMC FC  __________________________________________________________ Tomorrow 26th July, 2011 Matches Match # 60 will be played between Afghan FC and Army at Sadiq  Shaheed Football Stadium Quetta at 17:00 Hours  Match # 61 will be played between PIA and WAPDA at KPT Football Stadium Karachi at 17:00 Hours  Match # 62 will be played between KESC and KRL at Peoples Football  Stadium Karachi at 17:00 Hours  Wg. CDR (Retd) Pervaiz Saeed Mir TI (M) Director Operations PFF

Margala FC continue fine run in Women Club Championship

Star-studded Margala FC of Islamabad continued their fine run of Women Club Championship 2011 when they recorded two vital wins i over the last 3 days of action in Islamabad's Jinnah Sports Complex.
On 25 April, Margala FC steam-rolled past Young Rising Star Layyah 7-0. As many as three different players from Margalla scored a brace each, including National Women Team centre-forward Abiha Haider, left-forward Emaan, right-forward Mejzgaan Orakzai, and a goal from left-winger Shumaila.
On 27 April, the tie of tournament saw Margala FC face arch-rivals, and defending women champions, Young Rising Star of Rawalpindi in front of a strong crowd cheering both teams on. A fairly even action-packed contest saw both sides going close to scoring, with Margalla looking more confident with every passing minute. Eventually, Abiha Haider's clinical pass found the feet of Asna, who converted the simplest of chances for a narrow 1-0 win for Margala over their star-studden arch-rivals.

[AWAITING DETAILS OF REMAINING GAMES FROM PFF]

Brazilian Ambassador praises Faisal as Shehzad Anwar gets a trip to Brazil!

                         

Unopposed Provincial FA elections expected

The scrutiny of nomination papers of the candidates from Punjab and Balochistan was held on 28 April 2011 by the respective Election Commissioners for the 2011 Elections for Provincial FAs across Pakistan.
The nomination papers of following individuals from Punjab were rejected as these were not submitted to the Election Commissioner in accordance with the 'PFF Election Rules and Directives 2011'.
Punjab
1. Mr Raja Amer Khan    Candidate for post of President, Punjab FA
2. Mr Muhammad Khalid    Candidate for post of Vice President, Punjab FA
3. Mr Mujeeb ur Rehman    Candidate for post of Vice President, Punjab FA
The nomination papers of following individuals are accepted as their nominations paper fulfill all requirements of 'PFF Election Rules & Directives 2011'. Since, there are no other contestants, as such these candidates are elected unopposed to their respective positions:-
Balochistan
1 Haji Khalil Ahmed        President, Balochistan FA
2. Mir Inayat Ullah Baloch        Vice President, Balochistan FA
3. Mr Sana Ullah            Vice President, Balochistan FA
4. Mr Saif Ullah Baloch        Vice President, Balochistan FA
5. Mr Ayaz Zahoor Advocate       Member, PFF Congress
6. Mir Muhammad Jan Marri        Member, PFF Congress
7. Mir Khuda Baksh            Member, PFF Congress

Khyber Pakhtoonkhawa
1. Syed Zahir Ali Shah        President, KPK FA
2. Syed Ishfaq Hussain Shah        Vice President, KPK FA
3. Mohammad Saeed Khan        Vice President, KPK FA
4. Mohammad Saleem Awan        Vice President, KPK FA
Punjab
1. Muhammad Arshad Khan Lodhi    President, Punjab FA
2. Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada        Vice President, Punjab FA
3. Malik Salah uddin Dogar        Vice President, Punjab FA
4. Muhammad Naseem Khan Niazi    Vice President, Punjab FA
5. Raja Muhammad Ishtiaq        Vice President, Punjab FA
6. Khalid Iqbal Sheikh        Vice President, Punjab FA
Sindh
1. Syed Khadim Ali Shah        President, Sindh FA
2. Muhammad Iqbal        Vice President, Sindh FA
3. Azam Khan            Vice President, Sindh FA
4. Mir Yaqoob Ali Shah        Vice President, Sindh FA
5. Fateh Mohammad        Vice President, Sindh FA

The Life of Akber Wahidi (1957-2011)

Legendary sports writer, journalist, statistician, enthusiast, promoter, and PFF Media Manager, Syed Akber Ali Wahidi was found dead in his hotel room in Faisalabad this morning on Monday, 25 April 2011 at 9 AM. He was 53 years old, with cause of death determined as cardiac arrest suffered during his sleep.

The late Akber Wahidi was in Faisalabad to cover the final games of the 21st NBP National Football Challenge Cup 2011 on special invite of tournament organiser Rai Saif ur Rehman Bhatti. He had just enjoyed the nail-biting semi-final between KRL and Army at Bohranwali Ground on 24 April 2011 and was in good spirits. But his passing away just 8 hours after the end of the game in his hotel room has broken many hearts across Pakistan.

His body will be brought by air from Faisalabad to his native city of Karachi for burial later today. He leaves behind a widow, young son Ahmed Wahidi, mother, sister, and brother as mourners.

Akber Wahidi was famed for his sharp memory and enthusiasm for compiling statistics, records, history, and trivia related to both football and field hockey. He was often called the Walking Encyclopedia of Football. So much was his knowledge about the beautiful game, that even the football authorities around the world had to stand up and notice his remarkable memory and enthusiasm for the game.

In 2003, he acheived considerable fame when he wrote to FIFA and asked them to correct their record books for fastest goals scored from kick-off in a FIFA World Cup match. He pointed out that Václav Mašek of Czechoslovakia should be in second place for fastest goalscorer when he scored after just 16 seconds against Mexico in 1962 World Cup, rather than FIFA's then-second placed record holder Bryan Robson of England who scored after 27 seconds against France in 1982 World Cup. The fastest goal scored was by Turkey's legendary captain Hakan Şükür after just 11 seconds against South Korea in 3rd/4th place play-off in 2002 World Cup.

FIFA was surprised at this information and immediately acknowledged their mistake and sent Akber Wahidi an honorary letter thanking for his contribution and knowledge. In 2010, he was sent a special ticket by FIFA to vist and cover a match in the 2010 FIFA World Cup held in South Africa on FIFA's own expenses. He stated later that visiting and watching a FIFA World Cup game inside a stadium live was his dream come true.

Born on 7 August 1957, the late Akber Wahidi completed his BA in Civil Engineering from Karachi's renowned NED University of Engineering  & Technology as a youth, but decided not to pursue a career in Civil Engineering and instead focused on writing about his one true love: football.

From 1974, Akber Wahidi was involved in football & sports journalism and wrote fluently in both Urdu and English news articles. He first became renowned when he began writing exclusively for Urdu magazine 'Khel ki Dunya' that was owned by late sports journalist and Wahidi sahib's own mentor Alauddin Ghauri. Akber Wahidi would interview and profile the various football players and football teams across Karachi and rest of Pakistan, and showed immense dedication to his passion that won him many fans across Pakistan's football fraternity and sports journalism circles.

In 1992, Akber Wahidi became personally affiliated with the National Football Championship which was sponsored by Lifebuoy Soap for the first time Pakistani football history. As media in-charge for the tournament, Akber Wahidi's unprecedented coverage of the event brought the national media to take strong notice of almost every game and every result that was witnessed throughout Pakistan.

Eventually, the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) took notice of Akber Wahidi's tremendous knowledge, writing skills, and experience and made him Media Manager in 2004; a post he kept with full honour and committment till his shocking demise today.

A simple man, he did not let his fame as a sports journalist affect his humbleness and modesty throughout his life. He was offered a better pay to become Media Manager of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) many times but he flatly refused each time to give up his love and loyalty towards football.

He also won many admirers across the South Asian region with many sports journalists from Nepal, India, Bangladesh etc regarding him as one of their own. Akber Wahidi was also Executive Editor of the now defunct Karach-based Urdu-language football gazette 'Monthly Football Magazine' where he worked with his close friend and protégé Riaz Ahmed

Akber Wahidi also had a very close and personal friendship with FootballPakistan.Com (FPDC) since 2001. He got in touch with a young Malik Riaz Hai Naveed and supported the fellow's dream of giving Pakistani football a voice on the internet media which would evolve into FootballPakistan.Com (FPDC) in 2003. Akber Wahidi was always enthusiastic about supporting FPDC and provided its growing staffers with up-to-date Pakistani football news, statistics, reports, histories, content etc for almost 10 years without a pause. The FPDC team regarded him as one of their own because of his dedication to football and willingness to let the world read about it.

His death has given Pakistani football journalism and media involvement a huge blow because no one can be as enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and eloquent as Akber Wahidi was throughout his life.

The PFF Officials expressed immense sadness and shock regarding Akber Wahidi's sudden demise. PFF President Mahdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat, General Secretary Col (Retd) Ahmedyar Khan Lodhi, Director Operations Wing Commander (Retd) Pervez Saeed Mir et al. fondly recalled his enthusiasm for the beautiful game and prayed for the departed soul and his grieving family.

Others wishing their prayers and dedications to the late Akber Wahidi include sports journalist Riaz Ahmed, FPDC Webmaster Malik Riaz Hai Naveed, FPDC Chief Editor Ali Ahsan, FPDC editor Gauhar Mahmood Azeem, FPDC staffers M. Shahnawaz and Zaka Ahmed Gondal, PMC Athletico Faisalabad President Saif ur Rehman Bhatti, PMC Athletico Media Manager Waheed Nagra, former PFF officials M. Muslim Butt and Faisal Amir Khan, SSGC head coach Nasim Ahmed, Sindh FA chairman Ghulam Abbas Baloch, senior vice chairman Syed Khadim Ali Shah, national coach Tariq Lutfi, Karachi Zone West FA chairman Zafar Iqbal, secretary Rahim Bakhsh, Karachi Malir FA chairman Fateh Muhammad Baloch, secretary Shahid Taj, Karachi Zone South FA chairman Gulab Baloch, secretary Jan Muhammad, Murad Bakhsh, Karachi Zone East FA chairman Abdul Malik Khan, secretary Ubaid Ullah, Karachi Zone Central FA chairman Aqeel Tazeem Naqvi, secretary Asif Zaheer, member Abdul Karim, former international Saleem Patni, Karachi United FC director Taha Alizai, National Soccer Academy chairman Arshad Jamal, senior vice chairman Asif Khan, Khalid Majeed, Saleem Arif, Syed Usman Shah, Usman Baloch, Master Riasat Ali, Mirza Anees Baig, Rasheed Khan, Karim Bakhsh Chandio, et al.

May the departed hero of Pakistani football rest in peace, and may the grieving family have the patience and resolve to overcome the passing away of their beloved one.

A short biography by Riaz Ahmed and Ali Ahsan about the life of Syed Akber Ali Wahidi, the late PFF Media Manager and football enthusiast who was found dead in his hotel room in Faisalabad this morning.

KESC reach NFCC 2011 Final, beat PIA on penalties 4-2

Just like the 1st semi-final between KRL and Army, it took another penalty shoot-out to decide winner of the 2nd semi-final of 21st NBP National Football Challenge Cup 2011 between KESC and PIA today (25 April 2011) at Bohranwali Ground, Faisalabad.

The occasion was significantly marred by the earlier death of PFF Media Manager Syed Akber Ali Wahidi in the morning of the game. In his memory, there was a special prayer and applause done by both teams, officials, guests, and spectators before kick-off. The match was also attended by chief guest Syed Naveed Asghar, Senior VP of National Bank of Pakistan.

KESC were missing services of star striker Muhammad Rasool, who suffered injury in group stages that ruled him out for rest of tournament as they failed to score. The match was further compounded by a fine save by PIA goalkeeper Bilal Rafique to stop KESC skipper Muhammad Essa from giving his side the lead with a 43rd minute penalty kick before half-time. The match eventually ended 0-0 after 90 minutes as both sides failed to score from the chances they had, leading to extra time.

After a scoreless 1st half of extra time, the match exploded into late frenzy as PIA skipper #10 Nasrullah Khan gave his side a 1-0 lead in 109th minute that looked like it would be enough to see them through to face former coach Tariq Lutfi and his KRL side in final. But KESC veteran striker and vice-captain #10 Aurangzeb Shahmir equalised in 115th minute as extra time eventually finished all-square at the end, leading to the dreaded penalty shoot-out.

Pishin hosts teams from Ziarat and Chaman for Sports Festival

Pishin District of Balochistan province recently concluded a Sports Festival Week at Taj Lala Stadium, inviting various school and college teams from neighbouring Ziarat and Qilla Abdullah (Chaman) districts of Balochistan to take part in Cricket and Football events.

Pishin teams completed clean sweep in all the sports events over their neighbouring districts, including the Pishin Girls College teams facing similar victories in female events.

The concluding ceremonies of the Pishin Sports Festival Week was attended by chief guest Muneer Ahmed Badini, Balochistan Sports Secretary, who praised the arrangement of such events for young students.

He said that young people can only succeed in life when they concentrate fully on their studies and participate in sports to encourage healthy activity and thrill in a safe environment that helps to stay away from the vices of society as well as poor health.

Muneer Badini also said the Balochistan Govt is doing its utmost to encourage and facilitate sports activities and events to create world class sportsmen from all ages to compete at national levels, as well as vowing to improve sports facilities in Pishin District.

The event was also attended by Pishin District's Education Officer Rasheed Tareen, DPO Asad Nasir, Sports Officer Idrees Khan, and Pishin Press Club President Saad Ullah Jan Tareen.

PMC Athletico President Saif Bhatti expresses deep sorrow at Akber Wahidi’ sad demise

The entire Pakistan football fraternity was today shook by the sad, unexpected demise of Akber Wahidi, the pen to Pakistani football. From officials to fans, from journalists to students of NED, his alma-mater, all are grieved at this devastating news.

One person especially aggrieved is PMC Athletico President and NBP Challenge Cup organizer Rai Saif Ur Rehman Bhatti, as Wahidi passed away whilst his guest at the event.'I cannot express my feelings, I feel as I have lost myself somewhere. We have lost a great man. He died in my own arms and as my guest, you can't even imagine the pain.'' Saif Bhatti said when asked about Wahidi' death.

He added, 'I called him on the 19th of April and inquired why he hadn't come to Faisalabad to cover the Challenge Cup. He replied this assignment wasn't given to him. I asked him on personal behalf to come as my special guest to witness and cover the event as only he could. He accepted my invitation and came to Faisalabad on the 21st of April and I provided him the best possible stay available and my best hospitality. He was enjoying it here, and was covering the event, and also appreciated my efforts in organizing this event which are comments I now cherish. This is the least I could do such a humble man, who can be best known as a Malang.

It was alarming when I received a call from (PFF Manager Competitions) Rauf Bari at 9:15 am today telling me that Akber Wahidi is not responding, I reached there as soon as I could to find rescue 1122 declare him dead. What an unrepairable loss indeed.'

When asked if he would ask the PFF management to dedicate the final or an award to Akber Wahidi, Saif Bhatti said he will try his best to make that possible, and that he had ensured the stadium sound system today lay silent for a minute today to honour Wahidi and a Dua was offered for his forgiveness.

'In two or three days with him, I got to know what a dynamic man he was. He was a civil engineer and I was surprised by his humility and his love for football, which was un-paralleled. Football may never recover from this loss.' He concluded.

DFA Nawabshah Chairman praises King Baloch FC

The successful King Baloch Football League Championship in Nawabshah by local side King Baloch FC brought praise and felicitations from Yaqoob Baloch, the Chairman of District FA Nawabshah. He also stated the importance of such events to help promote football across the Nawabshah (Shaheed Benazirabad) District.
The DFA Chairman met club chairman Faiz Muhammad Baloch and congratulated King Baloch FC for organising the event with 6 of its own teams participating in the King Baloch Championship. King Baloch beat King Baloch Green in final on penalties a few weeks ago to win the event, with national football organiser Master Riasat Ali present as chief guest
.