KARACHI: Pakistan Football Federation president Mohsen Gilani on Monday signalled a decisive shift away from decades of dependence on grants from FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation, vowing to generate sustainable domestic revenue to modernise the sport’s crumbling infrastructure.

In a press conference at the Karachi Press Club, Mohsen said the federation needed to broaden its financial base.

“We have always been reliant on funding from FIFA and the AFC to run our affairs but I believe it’s time we change that,” he said. “We need to have more sources of funding and naturally that will trickle down to better infrastructure development in the country.”

The remarks came as the federation, still recovering from years of turmoil, seeks to translate recent on-field progress into long-term financial stability. Mohsen, elected in May last year as the first president chosen by the PFF’s own congress in a decade, assumed office after a FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee had run the federation since 2019 amid repeated suspensions, constitutional disputes and governance failures that left Pakistan isolated from the international mainstream.

Since taking charge, Gilani has prioritised international exposure. The men’s national futsal team made its maiden appearance in the AFC Futsal Asian Cup qualifiers in September-October last year. The senior women’s side is set to feature in a FIFA event for the first time when it competes in the FIFA Series in Ivory Coast in April against Turks and Caicos Islands, Mauritania and the hosts.

The Under-16 men’s team will also participate in a UEFA development tournament in Kazakhstan from April 24-30, while efforts are under way to arrange international friendlies for the senior men’s side.

“The aim is to offer maximum exposure for our teams,” Mohsen stressed. On the domestic front, the National Challenge Cup marked a key step in reviving structured competition. Defending champions Wapda retained the title for the third successive year after edging Khan Research Laboratories.

Mohsen described the tournament as “the first step in resumption of domestic activities” and revealed that discussions were under way with the federal government for the restoration of more departmental teams that once formed the backbone of Pakistan football.

Central to the federation’s financial strategy is the proposed launch of a professional domestic league. Mohsen said there had been “huge interest” from potential partners and that several companies had been shortlisted.

“The launch of the league will bring revenue to the PFF,” he said, adding that the initiative would directly address the funding crisis.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2026