Pakistan’s football chiefs Thursday invited Diego Maradona to visit the country after the Argentina legend disparagingly compared his own association to the South Asian nation’s.
The 53-year-old accused the Argentine Football Association (AFA) of ‘understanding as much about football as Pakistan does’. Naveed Haider, a senior official of the Pakistan Football Federation, welcomed the fact Maradona was talking about his country and urged him to visit to lift the game’s profile.
‘I would love Maradona to come to Pakistan and help Pakistan,’ Haider told AFP, noting that the Argentine was already a sports ambassador for Dubai. ‘He plays a very effective role and we welcome him to come and develop football here.’
He acknowledged that Pakistan, ranked a lowly 158th in the world, had a long way to go but said they had made great strides in recent times. ‘We want to do more than we are doing but we have achieved a lot in the last few years,’ Haider said, citing Pakistan winning the Asian Football Confederation’s ‘Aspiring’ nation award last year.
He also noted Pakistan had climbed in the rankings from a low of 172 last year to their current position, and had recently drawn a match with higher-ranked Malaysia.
The 53-year-old accused the Argentine Football Association (AFA) of ‘understanding as much about football as Pakistan does’. Naveed Haider, a senior official of the Pakistan Football Federation, welcomed the fact Maradona was talking about his country and urged him to visit to lift the game’s profile.
‘I would love Maradona to come to Pakistan and help Pakistan,’ Haider told AFP, noting that the Argentine was already a sports ambassador for Dubai. ‘He plays a very effective role and we welcome him to come and develop football here.’
He acknowledged that Pakistan, ranked a lowly 158th in the world, had a long way to go but said they had made great strides in recent times. ‘We want to do more than we are doing but we have achieved a lot in the last few years,’ Haider said, citing Pakistan winning the Asian Football Confederation’s ‘Aspiring’ nation award last year.
He also noted Pakistan had climbed in the rankings from a low of 172 last year to their current position, and had recently drawn a match with higher-ranked Malaysia.