Lahore, 18 October : “All teams must put an AFC qualified coach on team bench during the matches of ongoing Pakistan Premier Football League.It came to the notice of PFF that some participating teams are not playing under the true spirit of the game rules and regulations,” this is stated by PFF’s Director Operation Wg. Cmdr (R) Pervaiz Saeed Mir.
Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) has ordered all the sixteen participants of Pakistan Premier Football League 2010 that only FIFA / AFC qualified coaches will be allowed to sit on Dugout (or team’s bench area) as coach, assistant coach and goalkeeper coach,
The Clause No. 9 (a) titling “Team Bench and Technical Area” and 23 titling “Principles for Registration of Officials” of PPFL 2010 – Technical Regulations, says only FIFA/AFC qualified coaches are allowed to sit on team benches as Coach and Assistant Coaches.
‘It is surprise to note that some dugouts/team benches are without any qualified coach and team is playing without coach which is contradictory to the clauses in PPFL Regulations and game spirit. All teams are informed that playing the 240-match show without qualified coach is not allowed otherwise disciplinary action will be taken against the default team and 25% match bonus will be deducted from team each match.,” said Mir who added that all Match Commissioners must ensure either team bench is with any qualified coach or not.
The PPFL, that commenced on 16 September, will run until 28 December 2010 with participants being Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), Karachi Port Trust (KPT), Pakistan Army, Pakistan WAPDA, National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Pakistan Navy, Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC), Habib Bank Limited (HBL), Chaman’s Afghan Club, PMC Athletico Club Faisalabad, Lahore’s Pak Elektron Limited (PEL), Nushki’s Baloch FC, Pakistan Air Force (PAF), Sui Southern Gas Company and Sahiwal’s Young Blood FC.
All the Pakistan-based youth football coaches working under the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) AID-27 Financial Assistance Scheme are qualified coaches and are cleared to take coaching staff of any team figuring in PPFL. It is obligatory for Member Association benefiting from the AID27 to employ those coaches who have qualified from the AFC coaching courses.
The game’s governing body has asked the organizational /club teams that it is mandatory to appoint coaches who completed AFC Coaching courses (for ‘C’, ‘B’, ‘A’ certificates and Professional Diploma) and working for AFC AID-27 Scheme in PPFL. As part of the integrated development strategy under Vision Asia, the AFC AID-27 program provides financial assistance to 29 eligible member associations including Pakistan to employ coaches for all their non-senior national teams and for regional development programs focused on grassroots and youth football. Under the program, the associations are obliged to send young participants to the coaching certificate courses held during the AFC Festivals of Football and subsequently to employ those who clear the course.
This strategy is part of AFC’s policy to identify potential future elite coaches at a young age and provide a path for their development. Only candidates who are former players and 30 years of age or less are entitled to participate in the coaching courses at the festivals.
The AID27 Program (AID27) provides financial grants within the AFC budget which is ratified by the AFC Congress, to the participating Member Associations (definition of Member Associations is in accordance to the AFC Statutes) in order to develop football at the grassroots and youth level as well as to promote women’s football and futsal by (1)Ensuring that more qualified coaches are employed (e) enhancing the education of those involved in the game (3)Assisting in the employment of administrative staff; (4) Increasing participation of the national teams at AFC Youth competitions and Festivals of Football.
Twenty-nine national associations are now receiving the AFC financial support for football development through the salary for coaches, especially grassroots and youth coaches. Pakistan besides Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Bhutan, Cambodia, Guam, India, Iraq, Jordan, DPR Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Macau, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Palestine, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, East Timor, Vietnam, Yemen and Uzbekistan are eligible for the scheme.