Defiant Zainli vows to bring football on track in Pakistan

• Manizeh Zainli became the first female to hold a senior executive position in the history of the PFF.
• “I want to give women an equal chance as men to compete in sports,” says PFF General Secretary.

KARACHI: Pakistan Football Federation (PFF)’s newly appointed general secretary Manizeh Zainli is poised to bring football in Pakistan back on track, as she takes up the challenge apart for her expertise.

Appointed in February this year, Zainli became the first female to hold a senior executive position in the history of the PFF.

Previously worked in education and management, Zainli face criticism over her appointment, however, she is optimistic to revive football in Pakistan.

“This position is about merit and not gender,” defiant Manizeh told Dawn. “I will let my achievements and dedication speak for itself and will be grateful for the resistance I will face which will only keep pushing me to do my best.”

Referring to politics-hit world of football in Pakistan, the only sister to seven brothers said her late father had told her to stay away from politics. “But if you want to correct something, you have to get into it. That’s what I want to do with football in Pakistan.”

Commenting on females coming into the game, the PFF general secretary said she wants to give equal opportunity to women as they make half of the population of Pakistan.

“Women, statistically, make half of the population of Pakistan,” said Manizeh. “… and I want to give women an equal chance as men to compete in sports. Thankfully, I have an opportunity to make sure of that.”

However, this is not the only thing she is focused on. “After I was appointed, a colleague of mine from Balochistan called and implored me to do something about football in the province,” she informed. “I have this belief that if you can change one child’s future, you can change the society.”

Furthermore, she shared that her daughters, three of them, were very much into football.

Now pursuing law from the University of London’s external programme, Zainli said, “I’ve always wanted to give back to the world which is why I’m pursuing law.”

For now, she’s giving her expertise to Pakistan football, hoping to help take it out of the crisis that it has found itself during the last several years.