LAHORE: The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) Normalisation Committee has been forced to delay the national team’s camp for the home leg of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers against Jordan due to financial issues.
“The camp was scheduled to begin from March 1 but it has been delayed and the biggest reason behind it is financial,” an NC source told The News on Friday.
The match between the two nations is scheduled to be held at the Jinnah Stadium, Islamabad, on March 21 at 2pm.
The source said if the government is able to install floodlights at the Jinnah Stadium, as per its promise, then the time can be changed and the match can be held under floodlights. The source said it is for the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) to tackle the matter of floodlights.
Earlier, the PFF had stated that Islamabad's Jinnah Stadium falls short of FIFA standards.
In a statement released on January 22, the PFF conveyed that it is actively exploring alternative venues to ensure the game takes place at a neutral location.
"In collaboration with the Pakistan Sports Board, the Pakistan Football Federation has been dedicatedly working on preparing Jinnah Stadium for the upcoming March match against Jordan, following the successful," PFF stated.
"Regrettably, despite our best efforts, the current standard of Jinnah Stadium does not meet FIFA requirements," it added.
The PFF had also highlighted a significant challenge related to lighting conditions, stating, "as the March game is scheduled to be held under lights and coincides with Ramazan, meeting FIFA’s lighting standards with the current setup has posed difficulties”.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) had also extended the deadline to confirm the venue for Pakistan’s home clash against Jordan but the floodlights issued could still not be resolved.
