Hopes of a revival of India-Pakistan sporting ties were dashed on Friday when a two-match football series between the two sides scheduled to be held in Britain next month was called off, an official said.
Poor financial return and improper management are believed to be the reason behind the last minute cancellation of the Pakistan and India series ‘Clash of Titans’ in the United Kingdom. The TouchSky Sports’ last moment pull out has left the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) disappointed and also made the All India Football Federation upset.
“We had made all the arrangements and the teams were ready to leave for the UK but we were not formally informed… Only a press release was forwarded to us, which was quite disappointing for us,” said an official of the PFF.
PFF Marketing Director Sardar Naveed Haider said that they were not informed in writing as yet. “As a marketing person I believe that the commercial values of the series were not achieved and the organisers failed to make up things as were laid down,” Sardar said.
“There has been very poor response to the series and quite low tickets sale,” the PFF official added.
Sardar Naveed said: “I had a detailed talk with the Indian football officials and they were very upset. We will have a meeting in the coming days and sort out the issues to come out with something solid,” he added.
Pakistan had announced a 22-member squad for the series on Thursday and the team was scheduled to fly on Saturday. The camp training of the team has also been called off because there has been no proper response from the organisers. An insider stated that the reason behind the cancellation of the series was unavoidable circumstances. “That is the only reason they briefed us,” he added. Reports coming from across the border said that the organisers cancelled the tour because of riot-related problems. “We have just been informed by the organisers, Touchsky Sports that the tour has been cancelled,” an Indian newspaper quoted its football official as saying.
