The visiting football captains and officials from Chinese Taipei and Magnolia said on Monday that negative propaganda was being made regarding security in Pakistan which is a safe country for holding international sports events including football.
“We feel at ease while in Pakistan and we are delighted to be in Lahore to play the AFC Presidents Cup Group B qualifying round and we look forward to a thrilling football event “,said Chinese team captain, Kno Yin Hung and head coach Chen Jen at a media conference on the eve of the event here on Monday at FIFA football house.
The three nation qualifying round features the defending champions , Chinese Taipei’s Taiwan Power football club ,Mongolia Erchim football club and Khan Research Laboratories.
They expressed their satisfaction over the security situation in Pakistan and said “ Negative propaganda is being made against Pakistan as far as security is concerned. Due to that sort of propaganda we had a different picture of Pakistan in our mind but the moment we landed at Lahore airport and came out and went for practice that concept changed altogether as things are normal here and there is nothing wrong with the security.“
“We would like to say that Pakistan is a peaceful country suitable to organize sports events “,they asserted. They expressed the determination that their team would be able to defend the title by putting up impressive show . “ We are the reigning champions and we would be facing Magnolia and Pakistan and both teams are capable of giving us tough time but we are ready for giving our best through commitment and hard work “.
Mongolian skipper Enkhjargal and coach Batnasan spoke high of their side which will be aiming to produce high quality football to win the event. “In the presence of defending champions and Pakistan playing in their own back yard the task would be too challenging but we are fully focus for a good exhibition on part of our players”, they said.
They said Pakistan is a sports loving country and people are very friendly.
“Pakistan’s wrong image is being portrayed in the outer world ,security situation is good here and we are very comfortable here “,they added.
They said their team is a good combination of talent and they have some very good players in their ranks who can play significant role in their bid to win the event.