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Mr Miyagi said in Karate Kid “Ambition without knowledge is like a boat on dry land” but what can you say when there is no ambition or knowledge but a lot power?

That is something being exhibited by majority of the sports bodies in Pakistan and in particular the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF). Tall claims have been made by the federation repeatedly. They have been as absurd as qualification for 2020 Olympics and 2022 FIFA World Cup as part of its much vaunted ‘Vision 2020 Program’. But there are no concrete measures being taken to ensure that these lofty objectives are met.

There is no professional league, no comprehensive national youth development plan, no investment into infrastructure, and above all there is no effort being made to commercialise the sport.

According to source, a FIFA delegation that visited recently to assess PFF’s operations delegation expressed disappointment with the way the federation was running the Pakistan Premier Football League (PPFL) and suggested changes. However, judging from the past, suggestions from players/coaches and even in-house research on the league, will fall on deaf ears because there is no vision or ambition as my previous article analysed.

More importantly there is shortage of sports related professionals who could transform the organisation. The sad reality of the PPFL is that it has been running for nine years and the standard of football has gradually declined instead of experiencing even limited periods of upwards mobility. This has largely been due to fast expansion with little regulation and continued violation of rules such as walkovers, the inhumane four-month season in which teams play 30 matches, no TV/radio coverage and above all, the prize money for winning team is same as annual salary earned by highest paid footballer in the country.

There is much quantity but no quality as is evident by the fortunes of the national team, to which the PPFL should ideally be supplying. The shambolic performance of Pakistan U22s in recent AFC Asian U22 Championship qualifying round where the Greenshirts picked up one point in five games and failed to score a single goal, demonstrated the poor standard at the grass-roots level. In a quick reaction to that and mostly to douse the flames, the PFF quickly turned to enforce a new rule where PPFL teams would be required to have a certain number of U19 players in their squads. But what can you achieve out of this when almost all of the PPFL teams do not have their own academies or youth development centre?

Therefore, the issue of polishing talent will persist because the players have not been properly coached from an early age.

The time has come for PFF to part ways with the rotten PPFL and set up a new league. This should not just aim to ‘tick the box’ to keep the FIFA/AFC grants flowing but be something productive that can rejuvenate football in the country. Football clubs in Pakistan are not as strong to run a successful football league with TV coverage and garner the support of the corporate sector at the same time. On the other hand departments don’t have the appeal for the general public and 65 years of the same has proved to be a failure.

It is important for PFF to break free from the past and start a new league which is based on the franchise model belonging to major cities. Such a concept is not new to Pakistan. The city-based Geo Super Football League was started by Geo Super with the help of PFF in the summer of 2007. Five teams all based in Karachi competed in the event that spanned over two months.

The league attracted crowds in their thousands and good level of play was on display for a nationwide audience. However, with a lack of long term support from PFF, the league was discontinued until summer 2010 when KESC stepped in to support the venture with another SFL season. PFF once again supported from the venture from the side-lines. The league was a success but it failed to materialise into something permanent. This was largely because Geo Super conducted it purely for commercial reasons while PFF failed to cash in on it for the long term betterment of football in the country.