Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Islamabad: The AFC U-14 Boys’ Festival of Football kicked off on Wednesday at the Jinnah Stadium Islamabad in a colourful ceremony witnessed by large gathering of football fans.
The opening ceremony started with a passing-out parade of the participating teams of Pakistan, Pakistan A, Tajikistan and Afghanistan.
A press release issued by the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) says that Paul Molloy, the Australian Deputy High Commissioner who was the chief guest at the ceremony, said that encouraging young people of both sexes to become involved in sports is a main aim of the Australian Sports Outreach Program (ASOP).
“We also hope that the PFF’s initiatives will have important spill-over effects on the wider community, such as promoting health and well-being, and enhancing social cohesion,” he said.
“Such activity reflects the true spirit of our mutual goal for the enhancement of sport activity among our youth.”
AFC Grassroots and Youth Director John Whittle advised the participating teams to take advantage of the opportunity offered to them.
“All teams should establish friendly relations with each other for updating their knowledge and developing new skills through such festival,” he said.
PFF General Secretary Lt. Col (R ) Ahmed Yar Khan Lodhi TI, also speaking at the inauguration ceremony, said that the Festival of Football will benefit Pakistani football in all aspects of the game.
“I would like to thank AFC for providing this opportunity to Pakistan and I am hopeful that this will boost PFF’s drive for improvement of football in Pakistan,” he said.