KARACHI, Oct 21: The veteran German football coach Holger Obermann is in Pakistan these days to conduct Federation de Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Football for Hope Clinics for boys of ages 10 to 15 years in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and four cities of Pakistan as well as to distribute Football for Hope kits among the young soccer enthusiasts here.

After conducting a three-day clinic in Rawalakot in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, the 72-year-old Obermann, who is accompanied by Mohsin Gilani, FIFA Assistant Development Officer in Colombo, and Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) tour coordinator Ikhtiarullah, will start his tour of Islamabad from Friday where he will be working with Asian Football Confederation (AFC) AID-27 coach Sajjad Mahmood to provide training to the young soccer players there.

This will be followed by a two-day trip to Mirpur Khas (Oct 26-27) where he would be working for the promotion of football in the region with the Sindh Football Association (SFA) General-Secretary Mohammad Azam Khan.

The Karachi clinics (from Oct 28-31) will see him joining hands with another AFC coach Hassan Baloch to be followed by his trip to Lahore on Nov 1.

Obermann will be in Lahore till Nov 7 to conduct clinics for boys from Sialkot as well as Lahore. The first workshop for Sialkot-based boys who would be arriving in the city with their AFC coach Bilal Ahmed Butt will take place from Nov 2-3 to be followed by one for Lahore-based boys from Nov 4-6 with assistance from Mohammad Rashid, also an AFC coach.

This is Obermann’s third visit to Pakistan. He had earlier visited here in August-September 2006 and February-March 2007 on the directive of FIFA to conduct coaching clinics in the Oct 2005 earthquake-hit areas.

Holger, a former TV commentator has been traveling all over the world as a football missionary for 33 years now, which according to him is far more satisfying than a successful TV career.