ISLAMABAD: Top football players from around the world have arrived in Pakistan for the official launch of the Pakistan Football League (PFL) on Tuesday in Lahore. Football Players and executives from the UK, Spain, Italy, Portugal and USA have already confirmed their participation in the event. The Pakistan High Commission in London had said that it had issued more than 12 visas for the occasion.
The high-powered delegation is led by renowned player such as Michael Owen, Emile Heskey, a former English player who played for Leicester City, Aston Villa and Liverpool; Pascal Chimbonda, a French player who competed in the English Premier League with Tottenham Hotspur, Sunderland and Wigan Athletic; and Raúl Rodríguez, a former player for Espanyol in Spain’s La Liga in 2010.
Shortly following arriving in Pakistan on Monday, the footballers also visited Red Oak High, Roots Millennium Group of Colleges and ISSC Campus. Michael Owen even played football with the students at a local school.
The delegation also includes Steve Wood, who supervises Michael Owen’s global commercial activities; Adrian Bevington, a highly experienced senior executive in English football; Michael Knighton, former Manchester United board member; Carlo Mastellone, a former Italian player; Adolfo Guerrero Gunther, Club Atletico de Madrid’s International Expansion Manager since 2016; Amando Moreno, a Spanish football director who has worked with Rafa Benitez; Davide Gomes, ex-head coach of Benfica B, Benfica’s reserve team; Luis Miguel De Sousa Santos Reis, a retired Brazilian player; Gustavo Amador Moure, a seasoned legal professional; Adrián Varela, President of IR at CA River Plate; Wilson Lotutala, Marketing Director at FC Basel; Chris Kaufmann, Chief Executive Officer of FC Basel; Paul-David Matthias Erne, head of recruitment at FC Lous Club in Major League Soccer, USA; Michael John Farnan, co-founder of Redstrike; Simon Bytheway, a senior executive at Redstrike; and Glen Morgan and Ait-Ali Rabah.
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Sports journalists Alison Jane Bender, renowned for her contribution with Sky Sports, Real Madrid TV and Chelsea TV, and Chelsea TV; Jim White, a veteran sports writer and Gary Stonehouse, an experienced sports for The Sun, are also part of the delegation.
The three-day visit started on Monday in Islamabad, followed by a journey to Lahore for the official unveiling on June 4, and will conclude in Karachi. The route includes a lineup of key meetings with senior officials and a football carnival at Kakri Football Stadium in Lyari, aimed at honoring Pakistan’s unsung football heroes.
