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| Will Pakistan's football team be able to give better results by adding overseas players to the team? |
Last year's football World Cup in Qatar saw one upset after another, but the team that consistently surprised everyone with their performance was the Moroccan national team that reached the semi-finals.
The Moroccan team, which was ultimately defeated by France in the semi-finals, was also well-received in Pakistan. The highlight of this team was that out of 26 players in its World Cup squad, 14 were dual nationals or 'overseas players', meaning in simple terms they held Moroccan as well as another country's citizenship.
The Moroccan team manager Waleed Regraghi was well-appreciated for this strategy of giving overseas players a place in the team.
Ahead of the four-nation football tournament played by Pakistan in Mauritius last week, the 28-member squad for the training camp was announced. The interesting thing about this squad was that nine overseas players were included in it.
Ever since the announcement of the squad, there has been a similar debate on Pakistani social media as it did at the start of the 2022 World Cup qualifying round in Morocco a few years ago.
The summary of this discussion is that the critics object that due to such a large number of overseas players in the Pakistani team, local players do not get opportunities and if they do not play football with better teams, how will they be able to improve themselves.
During the last eight years, the national team was deprived of playing football mostly due to the mismanagement of the Pakistan Football Federation and violation of FIFA rules. FIFA suspended Pakistan's membership twice, first from 2015 to 2018 and again in 2021, due to the occupation of the PFF headquarters by a group that was termed as 'external interference'.
On the other hand, the opinion is that the participation of the best overseas players in the Pakistan team is important because it not only increases the team's chances of winning but also allows the local players to improve their game.
To know the details of this debate, we spoke to the chairman of the Pakistan Football Federation's normalization committee, overseas players, and an analyst.
However, before knowing more about this, it is important to inform you that as of this writing, the Pakistani team has not received the NOC from the Pakistan Sports Board to travel to Mauritius, for which the players of the national football team have also appealed. have done Pakistan is scheduled to play its first match in Mauritius on June 11.
"This debate has been going on for 12 years, earlier overseas players were abused."
To get the background of this debate, we spoke to Yousuf Ijaz Butt, the 17-match goalkeeper of the Pakistan football team who has represented Pakistan for the past 12 years.
Speaking to the BBC from Denmark, he said, "This discussion is not new. I have been hearing it for 12 years."
At that time, the local players used to say to each other that You have taken our place, and abuses were also heard. Then when the team started playing together and unity was formed, they also understood. Now this discussion is limited only to the media.
Yusuf Butt's ancestors belong to Kashmir but his family was living in Lahore after which his father shifted to Denmark.
When Yusuf Butt was asked about the lack of opportunities given to local players, he said that the situation is very bad for local players. It is not that there is no talent, in the last 12 years in Pakistan I had the opportunity to play with the best players like Kaleemullah, Isa, Adil, Saddam, and Faisal. But they could go much further than that. The problem of infrastructure in Pakistan is different and there are also problems of politics.
He described the bans imposed in the past as equivalent to 'taking away thousands of hours of training from the players'. He said that 'I train five days a week, one day I play a match, the gym training is separate.'
Apart from this, I also have the facility of a fitness coach and nutritionist. All this is important in professional-level football, but the strategy is also very important. The rhythm of the team is very important, so overseas players are needed because they have all these facilities, and having played at big clubs, they are used to playing under pressure.
He said that in 12 years, I should have played 60, 70 matches for Pakistan, but due to restrictions, I could only play 17.
To get some background on the issue, we spoke to Pakistan football watcher Shah Rukh Sohail, who is currently pursuing a Master's in Sports Management at the University of East London.
He said that in the year 2005, Zeesh Rehman was the first overseas Pakistani who joined the Pakistan football team.
Since then the streak has continued and the number has gradually increased and today the squad has nine overseas players.
Talking about this debate in detail, Shah Rukh said that this debate is very weak because we are still thinking in terms of the last century.
He said that the whole world has adopted this model, the ranking of the Philippine team was 190 in 2006 and they were playing in the Asia Cup in 2019.
He further said that 'Infrastructure is not built in Pakistan due to which long training camps are held and thus the players who are playing in other leagues do not get a chance to participate in these camps because their clubs do not allow them. No dYet went before the international window.
He said that the quality of the team will improve with the arrival of these players and if Pakistan plays with the right strategy, the results can be better.
"I'm glad this discussion is happening, someone is talking about football."
Haroon Malik, chairman of the Pakistan Football Federation's normalization committee, spoke to the BBC in detail about this.
"First of all, I am happy that this is being discussed," he said. It is a topic of discussion all over the world, wherever the team is announced, there is always a discussion. I am happy that people are talking about football in this way.
He said that the purpose of including overseas players in the team is that in the positions where we do not find players of the same caliber as these players, overseas players fill the gap. '
This makes two differences, one is that the quality of the team improves, and secondly, these players go to other countries and become ambassadors of Pakistan and tell that there is talent in Pakistan. Thus, the chances of boys getting opportunities in other clubs increase.
Talking about the opportunities available for the local player, he said that 'All Pakistan football tournament is being conducted at present, apart from this there will be football tournaments in 160 districts. Before this, football and Challenge Cups have also been held in the National Games, so gradually we are trying to give opportunities to local players.
A criticism regarding team selection is also made that in football the coach selects the team and he is considered to be the doer in this regard.
About this Harun Malik said that football teams are selected like this all over the world. We have sent our scouts to the National Games this time and also to the current tournaments to identify good players. Based on their suggestions, the squad for training has been announced.
"A team should always consist of the best players"
The new overseas players who have been included in the Pakistan team this time include Otis Khan and Isa Sulaiman and the analysts seem to have recognized their abilities.
Among them, Otis Khan is a graduate of Manchester United's youth academy, while Isa Suleiman has captained England's national junior teams and has emerged from Aston Villa's youth academy.
Speaking to the BBC from Britain, 27-year-old Otis Khan said it was a proud moment for him and his family.
Otis Khan's grandfather hails from Faisalabad and migrated to Britain in the 1960s and got married there. Otis Khan himself has not yet come to Pakistan.
Talking about the debate on overseas players, he said that the team should always consist of the best players. Everyone has their own opinion and conflict can arise on anything, but our job is to work together to give the best performance.
It should be noted that the Pakistan football team will leave for India after Mauritius where they will participate in the South Asian Football Federation Championship or SAIF Cup. Here, Pakistan will face India on June 21.
After that, Pakistan will be drawn for the World Cup Qualifiers, after which Pakistan will play the World Cup Qualifiers later in the year.
It should be noted that Pakistan's men's football team has never won a World Cup Qualifier match to date. "This is on our mind and we will try our best to change it," says Otis Khan.