With no official word coming from TouchSky Sports, the followers of soccer in Pakistan and across the border believe that the Pakistan and India will be facing each other in a friendly at Pride Park stadium in Derbyshire, England, most probably in October. The game has been planned to promote peace between the two South Asian neighbours and raise the profile of Asian football.
But the event organisers postponed the series at the last moment citing 40 day mourning period as the reason for the deferment of the series. The series was dedicated to the three Pakistanis who were victims of the last month’s riots in England. The matches were originally scheduled from September 3 but were postponed.
However, the marketing experts believe that the organisers failed to meet the desired target and in view of that they bought some time to rehash the series to raise suitable finance. All India Football Federation (AIFF) website said that organisers TouchSky Sports decided to delay the game after speaking to the families of Haroon Jahan, 21, and brothers Shazad Ali, 30, and Abdul Musavir, aged 31.
The match will be held after the mourning period of 40 days is over. The matches were expected to attract huge Asian community in Britain and were being billed officially as ‘The Clash of the Titans, India Pakistan UK tour’. Pakistani footballer Zesh Rehman was quoted by ESPN soccernet that he would love to play. “The rivalry between India and Pakistan is always fierce,” he added. India and Pakistan have both crashed out of the 2014 Soccer World Cup qualifiers. Pakistan, ranked 170 in FIFA rankings, lost to Bangladesh while India were eliminated by the UAE.