Faisal to inspect Karachi Stadium tomorrow
Bureau Report

LAHORE—Pakistan Football Federation (PFF)’s President Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat has decided to inspect Karachi’s Peoples Sports Complex, the venue for the December’s SAFF Championship, on Saturday, 29 October.
The stadium is situated at Lyari Town, a congested seaside settlement in Karachi. It is country’s only exclusive properly floodlit football stadium that could hold forty thousands fans in its bowl.
Earlier, he was forced to postpone his visit following emergency declare in wake of the devastating earthquake that struck large parts of South Asia, has caused the biggest disaster in Pakistan’s history.
Also Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas, Faisal is one of the busiest persons in Pakistan and expressed concern and sorrow over the tragedy caused by the massive earthquake in Pakistan, which flattened a number of cities and towns and had wiped out a generation in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Northern Areas and North West Frontier Province areas.
Peoples’s Sports Complex, that hosted Pakistan-Kyrgyzstan World Cup qualifier on 29 Nov 2003, was given green signal as venue for 15-match show after final inspection by SAFF Soccer delegation on last August. The delegation also watch KPT-WAPDA’s National Championship match in the evening to check the visibility of flood-lit system.
It will host sixth regional football tournament for South Asian nations: fourth to be played under title “SAFF Championship”. Faisal Saleh Hayat deserves praise for bringing SAFF’s showpiece event onto Pakistani soil. The SAFF Championship is held biannually to promote the development of football in South Asia. Launched at Lahore’s Railway Stadium in 1993 as SAARC Gold Cup; since 1997 onwards it is known as the SAFF Championship.
Karachi will host the eight-nation event from 7-17 December and he will review the ongoing development work. He also directed all the PFF officials to leave no stone unturn into making the event an imposing success. During his visit to Karachi, the PFF boss is expected to meet with high officials of the Sindh Government and Karachi City District Government to seek their support and help to speed up the renovation work at the stadium so that it could be made available for hosting the event much earlier.