ISLAMABAD: With Saudi Arabia’s national flag draped around his shoulders, Shah Murad arrived in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad to achieve his “lifelong dream”: watch Saudi Arabia’s national football team in action.
Murad, a 33-year-old tea boy at a private bank in Pakistan’s financial hub Karachi, resides in the city’s teeming Lyari neighborhood. The slum has long been considered one of the city’s most dangerous neighborhoods due to frequent gang-related killings and rampant street crimes there.
It’s also known as “Mini-Brazil” and Pakistan’s football capital for producing immense talent for the sport. While its residents support different teams, a majority of them cheer for top football-playing nations like Germany, Brazil and Argentina.
Pakistan will face Saudi Arabia today at the Jinnah Football Stadium in Islamabad. The two sides will lock horns for round 2 of the FIFA World Cup qualifying matches. Pakistan lost the first round against Saudi Arabia in Al Ahsa in November 2023 when the Green Falcons vanquished Pakistan 4-0.
What makes Murad’s 890-mile journey from Karachi to Islamabad remarkable is the recent tragedy that befell him days before he decided to travel to Islamabad, a city he had never traveled to before. The superfan, a father of one, had been planning to travel to Islamabad for the match for the last six months. A few days earlier, his wife delivered a premature baby, their second child, who was put on a ventilator due to health complications.
“But before I could commence on my journey to fulfill my dream, I lost my son,” Murad told Arab News. “It hasn’t [even] been a week.”
Murad had abandoned his plan to leave Karachi but his family told him to pursue his dream of watching the Saudi football team live in action.
“My family encouraged me and said that it has been my lifelong dream,” Murad said. “You should go fulfill it.”
And his family’s encouragement was enough to motivate Murad to buy a Rs12,400 [$44.52] return bus ticket.
“I had been saving this money for a long time,” he explained.
In November 2022, when Saudi Arabia upset Argentina in the FIFA World Cup 2022, Arab News spoke to Murad who said Saudi star Yasser Al-Qahtan was his favorite footballer.
When asked if he had any other wishes, Murad said he wanted to meet Saudi Arabia’s men’s football team now that he was in Islamabad.
However, he does feel slightly conflicted about who to support, now that his favorite team will be facing his country on the field.
“I want the Saudi team to win because it is my favorite football team,” Murad said. “But Pakistan is my country, so I am a bit confused.
“Whoever wins in the end, I hope it will be a victory for sports.”
Pakistani superfan travels 890 miles to catch Saudi football team live in Islamabad
Pakistani superfan travels 890 miles to catch Saudi football team live in Islamabad
- Shah Murad, a 33-year-old resident of Pakistan’s Karachi, considers Saudi Arabia his “favorite” football team
- Days before Murad departed for Islamabad, his premature baby passed away due to health complications
Pakistan to introduce new navigation system to cut flight delays at Skardu, Gilgit and Chitral
- Pakistan Airports Authority says satellite-guided RNP-AR procedures will be in place by June 2026, pending a feasibility study
- The system is expected to reduce weather-related delays and cancelations in Pakistan’s most popular mountain destinations
KARACHI: Pakistan said on Sunday it would introduce a new satellite-guided navigation system for flights to Skardu, Gilgit and Chitral by June 2026, aiming to curb chronic weather-related delays and cancelations at the three remote northern airports.
The destinations are among Pakistan’s most visited tourist sites and serve as gateways to the Himalayan and Karakoram ranges. Gilgit-Baltistan, which borders China, also holds strategic significance as part of the northern corridor linking the two neighbors.
Marking International Civil Aviation Day, the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) said it was accelerating aviation-sector upgrades, including the rollout of Required Navigation Performance – Authorization Required (RNP-AR) procedures.
RNP-AR is a high-precision, satellite-based approach system that enables aircraft to fly accurate, terrain-avoiding paths in low visibility, reducing weather-related disruptions at mountain airports.
“Pakistan Airports Authority is rapidly working on major projects for safe, efficient and modern aviation in the country,” the PAA said.
It added that RNP-AR flight procedures for Skardu, Gilgit and Chitral “will be implemented by June 2026,” subject to the findings of a consultant’s feasibility study.
The authority said the system would “significantly reduce weather-related flight delays and cancelations.”
The PAA also announced timelines for several other major upgrades, including terminal expansion at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport by September 2026 and runway modernization at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport by January 2026.
Further works include the next upgrade phase at Skardu Airport and phase two of Muridke General Aviation Aerodrome, both due to begin next year.
New greenfield airports in Dera Ismail Khan, Sukkur and Faisalabad have also entered planning stages, the statement said.
Final sites have been approved for a new air-traffic control tower and rescue fire station at Karachi Airport, infrastructure the PAA said would strengthen air-traffic management and safety.
“Pakistan Airports Authority is leading the aviation sector toward a safer and more accessible future,” it said.
