{"id":19362,"date":"2026-06-06T14:45:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T14:45:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/2026\/06\/06\/reviving-pakistan-football-mohsen-gilani\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T14:45:27","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T14:45:27","slug":"reviving-pakistan-football-mohsen-gilani","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/2026\/06\/06\/reviving-pakistan-football-mohsen-gilani\/","title":{"rendered":"Reviving Pakistan Football Under Mohsen Gilani"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a decade of off-field turmoil, Pakistan football is showing signs of a genuine revival under the leadership of Pakistan Football Federation president Syed Mohsen Gilani<\/strong>. The sport is reconnecting with international partners and rebuilding the structures needed for long-term growth.<\/p>\n

From 2015 to 2025 internal disputes, legal battles and repeated FIFA suspensions left players, officials and fans frustrated as domestic competitions stalled and international opportunities dried up. The extended role of a FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee contributed to a long period of stagnation that the game is now working to overcome.<\/p>\n

Since his election in May 2025, Gilani\u2019s administration moved quickly to restore Pakistan football\u2019s standing by strengthening ties with FIFA, the Asian Football Confederation, the South Asian Football Federation and several foreign federations. Increased dialogue at the continental and global level has reopened doors for competition and technical collaboration.<\/p>\n

On the field, Pakistan returned to a fuller international calendar with participation in events ranging from AFC Asian Cup qualifiers and age-group qualifiers to regional SAFF youth and futsal championships, as well as a debut campaign in the FIFA Women\u2019s Series and the FIFAe World Cup qualifiers. Regular exposure at continental and regional levels has provided crucial match experience that was missing for years.<\/p>\n

The federation also marked several firsts, including the creation of both men\u2019s and women\u2019s national futsal teams and the launch of a dedicated FIFAe department to enable international esports participation. Women\u2019s football in particular provided encouraging headlines, highlighted by an 8-0 victory in the national team\u2019s FIFA Women\u2019s Series debut and competitive displays against higher-ranked opponents. Youth teams have likewise returned to the international stage, giving emerging players much-needed exposure.<\/p>\n

Off the pitch, the PFF has pursued agreements focused on coach education, referee development, youth exchanges, infrastructure upgrades and planning for a professional league. Pakistan secured its highest-ever representation on FIFA and AFC committees, a step that strengthens the country\u2019s voice in football governance and decision-making forums.<\/p>\n

Development projects advanced this year include FIFA Arena initiatives, planning for a National Football Training Centre and preparatory work for the country\u2019s first professional football league. Discussions are also reportedly progressing on a potential visit by FIFA President Gianni Infantino, which would be a significant milestone if confirmed and could help catalyse further development funding and partnerships.<\/p>\n

Challenges remain, particularly around governance reform and institutional strengthening, but the direction is now more positive. With renewed international engagement, investment in coaching and infrastructure, and tangible competitive returns, Pakistan football appears to be moving from a period of uncertainty toward a clearer, more sustainable path forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pakistan football regains momentum under Mohsen Gilani with restored international ties, women’s successes and plans for a national training centre and pro league.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":19361,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19362"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19362\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}