In the far-flung northwestern tehsil of Landi Kotal, the area bordering Afghanistan, even the thought of playing football can be risky. Mind you, it is not security or societal issues that are the problem, but the rough, rocky terrain of the area, which sends a shudder down the spine of football players. These are dangerous grounds to negotiate.

Eighteen-year-old Tufail Shinwari is among the many players from this area who have been taking on the risk of injuries while choosing to play football on the uneven fields here. Shinwari is a striker who represented the Pakistan street child football team in the Street Child World Cup (SCWC) in Qatar in 2022. With three hat-tricks against Cambodia, Qatar and Sudan, Shinwari scored 10 goals, winning the Golden Boot, and also leading his team to the final, which they lost to Egypt on penalties.

FLASH IN THE PAN

It was in 2014, the second edition of the tournament held in Brazil, that Pakistan participated for the first time and finished in third place. Upon their return, the players were lauded as heroes. However, with time, the euphoria and the significance of the event gradually thinned.

The next few years saw accusations against Azad Foundation, the local non-governmental organisation (NGO) that had facilitated the selection and travel of street children for the tournament, of financial impropriety and unpaid dues.

The success of Pakistan’s street child football team in international tournaments created hope among the players of making it to the next level, or even financial security. But that is rarely the case…

Mehar Ali, now 26, was one of the stars of the 2014 team. A fisherman from Karachi’s Ibrahim Hyderi, he also featured for Pakistan at another street child football tournament in Norway in 2016.

Ali was one of two players whose performance piqued the interest of Cambridge United, a professional football club currently playing in the third tier of English football. “We trained in England for eight months and underwent the necessary physical fitness tests,” he tells Eos.

However, contract negotiations broke down, according to Ali, as a representative of the NGO demanded that it be brokered through them. “As a rule in football, it is the agents that facilitate contracts between clubs and players,” he points out. “As we did not have an agent, the talks broke down,” recalls Ali.

Shinwari, the star of the 2022 tournament, has been luckier in comparison. He secured a 14-month contract from Karachi United, a local football club, following his performance in Qatar.

But lady luck did not come through for another star from the same team, right winger Mohammad Adeel from Tank in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Upon his return from Qatar, Adeel was offered a contract by the National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC), he tells Eos. “But despite submitting my papers and completing the required paper work, I have not heard from them in the last 18 months,” he reveals.

THE INFORMAL GAME

The street child football matches fall under the category of informal football, as decided by the game’s governing body, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, or Fifa. The concept of the informal game was developed in 2005 as part of Fifa’s ‘Hope for Future’ initiative. Its core target is to educate children who continued to suffer isolation in society.

Even though the street child tournament mimics the format of the Fifa World Cup, with group stages and knock-out rounds, the rules can vary. For instance, each country that holds the SCWC can make its own rules and regulations for the game.

The first SCWC was held in South Africa in 2010. Since then, is has been held every four years in the same country that is hosting the Fifa World Cup.

The basic concept of the game is to pick up children between the ages of 14-17, who have experienced homelessness or are at risk of it, according to the SCWC application handbook.

“There are no permanently settled rules in street child football,” explains Rashid Ahmed, who has been coaching football players since 2010. He also accompanied the Pakistan street child team to Brazil in 2014, the United States in 2016 and Norway in 2023.

“It is often a 14-player game, with each side comprising seven players,” Ahmed tells Eos. “Each half is of 15 minutes duration and you can do multiple substitutions,” he says.

Rashid adds that the children selected in team could also include those involved in drug abuse, those with minimum chances of getting an education or those who have been forced into child labour.

ARE WE FOLLOWING THE RULES?

The core aim behind the concept of street child football tournaments is to uplift, educate and nurture children, who have the potential to succeed but might lack the opportunity. One of the requirements to participate in the tournament is for the selected player to have never competed as a professional athlete.

Coach Rashid Ahmed claims that the Pakistan contingent has violated this requirement on multiple occasions. “Many of the players selected are not street children, but professionals who are already getting coaching or playing in local clubs,” he tells Eos.

It even led to accusations during the 2014 edition of the tournament in Brazil, Rashid continues. “When we scored 13 goals against the Indian team, their coaches claimed that the players on the Pakistani side were not street children,” he reveals.

Following the accusation, Rashid continues, the tournament organisers conducted fitness tests of some of the Pakistani players. “The players cleared the fitness test,” he points out, before adding that the protocols are not followed in the true spirit.

CONTRASTING FORTUNES

As per the SCWC model, national teams are put together by partner organisations “working on the frontline to provide services and/or support to young people in street situations.”

Currently, Nottingham-headquartered Muslim Hands is serving as the partner in Pakistan and was also responsible for selecting and training players for the 2022 tournament in Qatar.

Shinwari and Adeel, stars of the 2022 team, were selected after Muslim Hands held trials in their respective areas of Landi Kotal and Tank. Adeel tells Eos that he continues to receive a monthly salary from the charity, which helps him with his finances and keep alive his chances of pursuing football professionally.

However, another player, who went from playing in the SCWC to representing the national team at the under-19 level, says he is still waiting for his dues. “My per-day remuneration, which was Rs10,000, has not been released despite the passage of over a year,” he tells Eos on condition of anonymity so as not to jeopardise any chances of selection in the future.

It is the same story for players such as Mehar Ali, the fisherman from Karachi, who once had the chance to play professional football in England. “I go into the ocean at noon and return home around midnight, sailing in a fishing dhow for 10-12 hours straight,” he says with bitterness.

“How can anyone have the energy to play football after that?” Ali asks rhetorically. “I can only see the reflection of the professional footballer that I once was when I stand in front of the mirror.”

The writer is a member of staff

Published in Dawn, EOS, January 5th, 2025