WITH the football World Cup final coming to an end later today, there would be very few people in the country who may have completely skipped the global event thatfeaturedinteresting encounters that threw up unexpected outcomes.

The craze for the game in Pakistan is deeply entrenched and widely spread even though the national team is nothing much to write home about. There is a lot to write home about, however, when it comes to the lack of promotion of the game in the country to optimise this craze for some tangible on-field heroics.

Unfortunately, the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) has failed to do much beyond practising its own brand of internal politics to take control.

Having said that, the PFF is not alone when it comes to maladministration; thevarious sports federations and governing entities act pretty much the same way.

The worst case is that of hockey, the national game, which is also a victim of neglect. And that explains why cricket alone is able to capture the fancy of the nation; most critically, of the corporate sponsors who keep pouring money into the game that has kept it alive at the cost of all the other games.

We were on the right track in terms of football`s popularity and the number of people who were passionate about both the game and its promotion. My father, the late Khwaja Nooruddin, was secretary of the famous Mohammedan Sporting Club in Calcutta (since renamed Kolkata) before partition. The Muslim team used to regularly outclass the British and Hindu teams, collecting several trophies and titles. Some of its players came from Lyari, the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; since renamed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and other regions.

To realise the scale offootballcraze and skills in the game in Pakistan, one only has to take a look at what is happening in Karachi`s Lyari area. There isno dearthofhidden talent and players who have the potential to make it big.

However, this is raw talent and needs to be groomed and sustained.

Unfortunately, the relevant authorities never took interest in any game other than cricket. It is time we focussed on football, hockey and other games and sports that really deserve official attention.

S.Babar Karachi