ISLAMABAD: FIFA Vice President Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa on Thursday pledged the world football body’s full support to revive the sport in Pakistan, promising to work with the national federation to develop infrastructure and create new opportunities after years of administrative turmoil.

A member of Bahrain’s royal family, Al Khalifa’s visit comes at a time when Pakistan has stepped up participation in international football tournaments across the Middle East and beyond.

However, the sport’s development has been held back by repeated crises within the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF), which has been suspended multiple times by FIFA in recent years for “third-party interference,” a term used when external actors influence or take control of a federation’s internal affairs, breaching FIFA’s independence rules.

The PFF’s most recent suspension, imposed in February 2025 for failing to adopt a FIFA-approved constitution ensuring fair elections, was lifted a month later after it endorsed the document and elected Syed Mohsen Gilani as its 17th president in May.

“I think the last [high-profile FIFA] visit was back in 2017, but I think I’ve come at the right time,” Al Khalifa said while addressing a news conference. “It’s the right time when we have an elected body at the PFF, led by President Syed Gilani, and of course ... the support of the government for sports in general, and in football in particular.”

He said he did not want to talk about the past.

“I think what matters is the present and what we can do,” he continued. “We have a clear roadmap of what needs to be done in football, because we all feel that Pakistan has a huge potential in this game. Since it’s been at standstill for so many years, I think it’s time that we start to kick off this program.”

He said FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) would help Pakistan rebuild facilities and programs neglected during the suspension.

“We are here to help,” he said. “We are here to find the right solutions in most of the problems that we face.”

Al Khalifa said bringing in experts to guide the local federation was among FIFA’s top priorities.

Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan, Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Youth Program, thanked him for visiting and said Pakistan’s new sports initiatives aimed to identify and train young talent nationwide.

“Football has enormous potential in Pakistan,” he said. “Together with the Pakistan Football Federation, we will identify that talent, bring it forward and groom it.”

He said the government was targeting 23 games, hoping to produce better athletes in each one of them.

“Apart from cricket, hockey and football, the games that are very popular in the world right now, we are also bringing in gymnastics and athletics, and we are working on that,” he added.