LAHORE, Aug 25: Just one hour after the announcement of Pakistan football team on Thursday for the two-match series against arch-rivals India, which was to be held at neutral venues of United Kingdom, the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) surprised everyone by announcing its postponement.

The 22-member team was supposed to leave Islamabad for London in the wee hours of Saturday.

The series had been remained in doldrums from the beginning as it was supposed to be held last year, but was postponed as the PFF’s Indian counterpart could not get permission from its government.

The proposed series, comprising three matches, was reduced to one, but again it was mutually agreed to play two games.

“The series has been put off due to unavoidable circumstances and a fresh date will be announced in due course of time,” said a PFF spokesman in a statement.

However, when contacted, PFF secretary Ahmad Yar Lodhi told Dawn that he had just landed in Karachi and had no information about the postponement.

The secretary said he was also surprised over the news of the postponement because many matters had been solved with the sponsors.

“They (sponsors) have sent the sum for holding the national training camp in Lahore besides dispatching air tickets for the entire squad. Though some matters were still to be resolved, that is a routine procedure which could be completed withinappropriate time,” he said.

Though the PFF did not make any demand for any share from the profit of the series, it had asked the organisers to provide air tickets, lodging and transportation facilities in England to the entire squad.

Meanwhile, the PFF announced mid-fielder Adnan Farooq Ahmad, an England-based Pakistani, as captain of the team for the said series in place of goalkeeper Jaffar Khan.

It had also included six Pakistani expatriates living in different countries.