Pakistan will host the prestigious AFC President’s Cup from April 5 to 15, 2007. The AFC President’s Cup features national champions of eight ‘emerging’ countries – Nepal, Tajikistan, Chinese Taipei, Kyrgyzstan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Cambodia and Pakistan. The first two editions of the event were staged in Nepal (2005; champions Regar-Tadaz of Tajikistan) and Malaysia (2006; champions Dordoi-Dynamo of Kyrgyzstan).

Countries which are considered ‘mature’ and ‘developing’ in footballing terms are entered in AFC Champions League and AFC Cup respectively. The AFC Champions League is the top club football tournament in Asia. For those who are familiar with European club football, AFC Champions League is the Asian version of UEFA Champions League, and this makes AFC Cup and AFC President’s Cup equivalent to UEFA Cup and UEFA Intertoto Cup respectively.

Each country’s national league champions take part in the annual competition. Wapda (2005) and Pakistan Army (2006) have represented Pakistan previously. This tournament will no doubt raise the profile of Pakistan football. The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) has made it very clear that it is committed towards organizing the successfully. PFF General Secretary Muhammad Arshad Khan Lodhi said at a press conference: “The PFF is very serious about hosting international football events each year. We played host to the SAF Games in 2004, SAFF Championships in 2005, the AFC U14 Festival of Football in 2006 and now we will host the third edition of the AFC President’s Cup next year.” He added: “AFC awarded this prestigious tournament to Pakistani due to the PFF’s professional planning and dedication since August 2003.”