FootballPakistan.Com (FPDC) veteran journalist Riaz Ahmed, in his brief Lahore visit, also met the people behind Fame Sports Club and Academy at their Model Town Block A & B as part of his detailed reporting on the Lahore football scene.
He could not meet with Fame’s football-loving president Haji Arif Dogar but met other senior officials in club secretary Tajamal Ahmed Khan, legal advisar Khawar Zaman, club captain Zia Arif Dogar, media officer Talal Rana, as well as the club’s licensed coaches ex-international Aamir Mehmood and Sheikh Siddique Qadri during his stay.
On expressing his interest to visit Fame, club officials welcomed Riaz Ahmed with open arms and regarded his visit as an honour for the club because of his football journalism and contributions in Karachi as well as through FPDC.
Fame’s secretary Tajamal Ahmed Khan can be regarded as a passionate devotee of football and has put in tremendous effort for his club’s rise to prominence across not just Lahore, but also Punjab level as well. He expressed his desire to make Fame Sports Club & Academy one of the most renowned football clubs across Pakistan in the near future. Tajamal Ahmed Khan enjoys the full confidence of Fame SC officials, general congress members, coaches, and players, including FPDC staffer Zaka Ahmed Gondal in making the club move forward.
Fame Sports Club & Academy is essentially divided into two entities; Fame FC & Fame SC. Fame Football Club (Fame FC) is the junior team and youth academy of the club, while Fame Sports Club (Fame SC) is the senior football team – both teams are officially registered members of District Football Association (DFA) Lahore. Both sides have also partaken in various Punjab football events with good results. In fact, Fame reached the semi-finals of the U17 Zong United Football Tournament held recently, with club secretary expressing disappointment with the way his team was knocked out of the competition.
The club academy provides quality coaching to as many 80-90 registered kids between the age categories of U10s till U16s without charging any fees, while there is also a newly formed girls academy that is headed by a licensed female coach.
Fame SC also desires to one day play in the Pakistan Premier League. Many of its senior and junior players have made the Punjab level, and two of its brightest stars have already joined the newly-promoted Wohaib FC from Lahore to play in the PPL later this year.
The club also enjoys prominence with the Punjab Football Association, and it recently provided office space to the cash-strapped Punjab FA in recent months to help it manage the affairs of the province efficiently. Punjab FA’s secretary and member of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) general congress Khalid Mehmood Chaudhry was also present in Riaz Ahmed’s visit and had in depth conversations over the affairs of PFA.
In fact it was with Punjab FA’s blessings that Fame organised an All-Punjab Model Town Football Cup at its ground a few months back in which it finished 2nd. Some the best teams of Lahore and rest of Punjab participated in the event. However, Fame appears to be at odds with the current DFA Lahore management that is led by its president Mian Rizwan Ali of the rival MTFC/MTFA based in Model Town C&D Block.
Tajamal Ahmed Khan also expressed his tremendous appreciation for club president Haji Arif Dogar for providing the club a beautiful ground in the middle of the posh Model Town locality of Lahore, and is hopeful that the club will soon have a dedicated fitness centre and gym on its ground to help the players’ physical fitness. He also expressed confidence that in near future Fame Sports Club & Academy will provide top quality players for the Pakistan national men’s team and women’s team.
In conclusion of the visit, the club officials thanked Riaz Ahmed and expressed special praise for FootballPakistan.Com (FPDC) team led by webmaster Malik Riaz Hai Naveed and chief editor Ali Ahsan. Fame Sports Club management assured FPDC of its full cooperation in any capacity if requested in future as well.