Dr Fehmida invites star Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo to visit Pakistan

Federal Minister for Inter Provincial Coordination (IPC), Dr Fehmida Mirza said “I hope Ronaldo comes to Pakistan, we will arrange a conference and can have him as a speaker, as this will be encouraging for our players.”

She expressed the desire to see the World’s Famous Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo visiting Pakistan soon during a meeting with Paulo Neves Pochinho, Ambassador of the Portuguese Republic here at her office, said a press release issued here.

In the meeting, the both decided that Pakistan would officially write a letter to the Secretary of State for Youth and Sports of Portugal to invite him and Portugal sports heroes to Pakistan.

Matters of mutual interests were also discussed in the meeting with particular focus laid on the promotion of sports and tourism in the country.

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Dr Fehmida said both the countries enjoyed amicable relations and support each other on the diplomatic forums. Further strengthening of Pakistan-Portugal relations is the need of the hour as it will prove beneficial for both the countries, she stressed.

She said the Portuguese coaches could come to Pakistan for imparting training to players in football, futsal, judo, table tennis etc.

Pakistani players could also be sent to Portugal for training, she added.

Likewise, she pointed out that Pakistan could extend help to Portugal in sports like squash, cricket and hockey.

While praising the sports model of the Portugal, the minister said their sports model was very impressive especially the way their players had evolved and earned their names in Olympics.

The ambassador said Portugal clubs existed at different levels and the coaches visited these clubs to choose the best players who later participate in the world events.

Besides this, he said that all the big clubs ran their own academies as well as schooling facilities.

The minister said she was also working on developing the sports academies of the kind and sought help of Portugal in this regard.

While highlighting the fact that 60% of the population of Pakistan is below 35 years of age, she expressed the importance of sports for youth and said that this was a low hanging fruit, therefore, a lot could be achieved through mutual cooperation.

The ambassador proposed that two-week long training camps could be arranged in Portugal for Pakistani players as well as coaches could be trained, to which she agreed.

The ambassador said Pakistan had immense potential in tourism, much more than Portugal and it was one of the important pillar of the economy.

The minister also invited the ambassador to visit Pakistan Sports Complex.

She briefed him about the recently held Women Sports Week, where female from all ages took part in various sports activities.