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The City of Football!

AL MUSABBIR SADI from Karachi
A big hoarding that
reads the slogan 'Welcome to the
Football City' will
attract you as you
move along the road
that leads to the
People's Sports Complex Stadium
from the heart of Karachi.
Although cricket is the most popular game in Pakistan, the
Karachiites are famous for their passion for football. And the
People's Sports Complex, the
venue of the Fourth SAFF Championship, turned into a sea of football fans just before the start of the final between Bangladesh and India yesterday.
Despite foolproof security measures, the complex became alive hours before the grand finale and even though the Bangladesh-Pakistan semifinal failed to draw a full house at the 25,000-seater, attendance was maximum in the competition.
But apart from the fan-factor, the eight-team tournament, however, would be termed as one of the most disorganised show due to mismanagement. The starts of a few matches were delayed due to late arrival of chief guests which is not uncommon in these parts of the world. The Bangladesh-Pakistan semifinal began 10 minutes late while the game between Pakistan and Sri Lanka kicked off 20 minutes after schedule.
The AFC (Asian Football Confederation) appointed match referee for the competition Fouad Jaroudi has already showed his discontent over the delayed starts and told that he would submit a report about this to the governing body of Asian football.
"There are things which are not appropriate and should not be done. But these things are beyond my control. I can not stop the championship for this reason. But I will report it to the AFC after the tournament," Jaroudi was quoted by a local newspaper.
The Lebanese was specially irked by a speech by the governor that delayed the Pakistan-Sri Lanka match.
"The ceremony was out of control. The governor came, shook hands with players and officials and surprised everybody by giving a speech. I could not stop him saying that we want to start the game," he told the newspaper.
Nowhere in the world, the start of an international match is allowed a delayed start.
Jaroudi also pointed out that
rules and regulations of international football were breached as all the eight teams were accommodated at the same hotel.
"Only two teams are allowed to stay at one hotel. Two referees are sharing one room. Some referees are being paid but some are not," he complained.
South Asian Football Federation secretary Sirajul Islam Bachchu, who is also the vice-president of Bangladesh Football Federation, dismissed the media report as false.
"I have talked with Jaroudi about this but he has denied saying anything about this to anyone. He is very happy about the venue and with the way we are organising it," said Bachchu defending his organisation and the Pakistan Football Federation.
"I admit that there has been some lack of administrative support which is why referees had to share rooms and could not be paid. But we are trying to bring a successful end to this event," he added.
Jaroudi was unavailable for comments.
The media facilities were event worse. On the day of the two semifinals, foreign reporters found out that all desks had been removed from the press box to accommodate VIP guests. And the final was also no exception.