ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) on Thursday launched the FIFA Football for Schools programme in Pakistan, targeting three million students in 3,000 public schools as part of efforts to expand grassroots participation in the sport.
Under the programme, 162,000 footballs will be distributed among students, while more than 50 master trainers who have completed training conducted by FIFA instructors will train teachers in their respective districts, the Pakistan Football Federation said in a press release.
PFF president Syed Mohsen Gilani said the programme would focus on taking football to schools and identifying talent from the country’s large youth population.
The programme will initially be implemented through public schools, with the schools and teachers selected according to criteria developed by FIFA. The Pakistan Football Federation said District Football Associations and Regional Football Associations would also be involved in connecting schools with the wider football structure.
FIFA Football for Schools senior manager Antonio Buenano Sanchez said the programme could have a ‘massive’ impact on Pakistan’s youth.
The programme will use a cascading training model under which the more than 50 master trainers will train additional teachers.
According to Sanchez, this could result in a network of around 450 trainers.
Pakistan Football Federation technical director Adeel Rizki said the current rollout was only the first stage of the programme.
‘This is the first stage, and we will slowly but surely increase the number of schools and districts that we are looking to bring into the programme,’ he said.
Adeel said the next major step would be the FIFA Talent Development Scheme, which is scheduled tobe launched in January 2027.
The scheme will provide a structured system for identifying and developing age-group talent emerging from grassroots initiatives such as Football for Schools.