LAHORE: After failing to get the No-Objection Certificate from the Palestine government, the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) has decided to postpone national team’s two-match tour to the Arabian state, which was scheduled to start from May 21.

PFF secretary Col (rtd) Ahmad Yar Lodhi told Dawn that the federation had been waiting for the NoC till Monday but when it received no reply from the Palestine Football Federation, the PFF decided to postpone it for an indefinite period.

He said the security situation of Palestine was not good and that was why its government was reluctant to host any country.

The PFF secretary said the tour could be held in later stages as it had not been cancelled.

He said the tour was important for the national team, which was preparing itself for the World Cup qualifiers.

He said Pakistan would meet Bangladesh in the qualifier on June 29 on their soil and then they would visit Pakistan to play the next match on July 3.

“To field a well-prepared team against Bangladesh, a series against Palestine would have been useful for us,” the PFF official added.

He said the winners against Bangladesh would face Lebanon, the country which had already qualified for the second round of the qualifiers.

Lodhi said the PFF was trying to give final shape to a series either against Dubai or Qatar as an alternative to the Palestine tour.