WHY ARE FOOTBALL RELATED SPORTS NOT POPULAR IN PAKISTAN?

One of the biggest reasons football or any of its related games have not excelled in Pakistan is because of lack of infrastructure. Pakistan surely has no such problems, with a population of around 200 million it is one of the most populous countries in the world. The success at other sports shows that the Pakistani people have the basic skills to do well in games. The country has produced great players in hockey and squash, showing the people do not lack agility, stamina or nimble footedness. The country has produced great fast bowlers and kabbadi players, showing the people do not lack strength and endurance. Plus economically speaking at least on paper Pakistan’s FA spends more money on football than Costa Rica and the latter reached the World Cup quarterfinal.

So it seems that logically Pakistan should not be that far behind in the football world. So what is holding football back in Pakistan? After all it is cheaper to play than both hockey and cricket. One only needs a football to play it and anything from old broken bricks to school bags can work as goal posts. So if it is easy to understand and cheap to play and the general population seem to have the basic skill set needed to succeed at football then why has it not blossomed into something bigger?

It is true that football is really cheap to play and hence it is being played in almost all cities and villages of Pakistan but the problem is it does not pay to be a footballer. As a result most people do not see it as a profession that will put food on the table.