KARACHI: "Should we all stop playing football, because obviously, despite spending our lives on it we are now obsolete?" asked a football player who endured abusive environment at the national women's football camp back in August.

The story of women’s football in Pakistan is that of perseverance, passion, overcoming social isolation, fighting gender bias, and finding their own identity. Despite all this, their many years of hard work and strife still end in heartbreak. The kind that leaves one numb, dejected, and angry, and should the women speak out against it, they are gotten rid of, as has been witnessed in the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) Normalisation Committee’s (NC’s) dealing with the players who had held the head coach accountable for mistreatment.

The players' words played increasingly loud in my head as I saw the press release and pictures of the national women's football team probables along with the coach Adeel Rizki, PFF NC chairman Haroon Malik and President of Pakistan Arif Alvi last week. Those pictures were deeply disconcerting to look at. I learnt about it over the last two weeks after several women footballers spoke to me about their experience at the national football camp which was set up for the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship in Nepal last year.

The way players’ concerns and wellbeing had been neglected to keep the positions at the PFF and the national team was nothing short of a reprobate behaviour.

The pictures only brought about the horrifying realisation yet again that women’s football, much like every other department in Pakistan, is dictated by a bunch of men fighting for their place in the power corridors. It is an open secret that the women footballers had submitted their letters to the PFF NC complaining about the head coach's discriminatory and abusive behaviour, only to find out that the NC head was not only complicit but also showed all the letters to the same coach.

The SAFF Championship was historic for Pakistan women because it was finally a comeback for them on the international arena after eight long years. In these eight years, the women who chose football, who stuck to their passion despite living in a patriarchal and traditional society that discourages girls to play sports, finally saw their chances of proving their mettle. It was also the first tournament that any Pakistani team had played since FIFA lifted its 15-month-long suspension on PFF which came after a faction of former PFF officials overtook the federation’s headquarters in Lahore. The faction claimed to be the rightful office holders, which FIFA did not recognise; hence it suspended the membership of the country after several warnings.

That too happened in the middle of the Women’s National Championship. The takeover resulted in the cancellation of the event which left the women traumatised, angry and heartbroken. It is always the case that women are not the ones who have a say in their own game.

Published in The Daily National Courier, February, 28 2023

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