ISLAMABAD: The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) recently lifted the international suspension it had imposed on Pakistan after the country unanimously approved its proposed constitutional amendments, the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) said recently.
FIFA hit Pakistan on Feb. 6 with a third international suspension in less than eight years after the federation rejected its electoral reforms. Following the suspension, the PFF unanimously approved FIFA’s proposed constitutional amendments in an extraordinary meeting in Lahore last Thursday.
“The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) welcomes FIFA’s decision to lift the suspension imposed on February 6, 2025,” the PFF said in a statement on Sunday. “The decision follows the unanimous approval of FIFA-proposed amendments by the newly elected PFF Congress in the PFF constitution during an Extraordinary Congress meeting held in Lahore on February 27, 2025.”
PFF Normalization Committee Chairman Saud Hashimi congratulated the nation on the development.
“This is a historic day for Pakistani football, and we are committed to fulfilling FIFA and AFC’s mandate to ensure a stable and progressive future for the sport in the country,” Hashimi said.
The move means Pakistan will now be able to play Syria on Mar. 25 in its first qualifier for the upcoming 2027 Asian Cup.
The PFF has been mired in crisis and controversy since 2015 and this was the third time since 2017 that Pakistan has been suspended.
In June 2022, FIFA lifted the PFF’s suspension, which had been imposed due to undue third-party interference a year earlier. A group of officials led by Ashfaq Hussain Shah, which was elected by the Supreme Court in 2018 to run the PFF but was not recognized by FIFA, took over the headquarters in March 20121.
They had seized control from FIFA’s normalization committee headed by Haroon Malik. The committee had not conducted elections for the body in the 18 months since it took charge.
FIFA suspended the PFF due to the “hostile takeover” but lifted the ban after confirmation the committee had regained full control of the PFF’s premises and was in a position to manage its finances.
Pakistan was also suspended by FIFA for third party interference in 2017.
Pakistan’s old English manners spell youth Scrabble success
Despite a musty reputation, the word-spelling game has a cult youth following in Pakistan
Karachi schools organize tutorials with Scrabble coaches, grant scholarships to top players
Updated 49 min 32 sec ago
AFP
KARACHI : “Dram,” meaning a measure of whisky. “Turm,” describing a cavalry unit. “Taupie,” a foolish youngster.
Not words in a typical teen’s vocabulary, but all come easily to Pakistani prodigy Bilal Asher, world under-14 Scrabble champion.
Despite a musty reputation, the word-spelling game has a cult youth following in Pakistan, a legacy of the English language imposed by Britain’s empire but which the country has adapted into its own dialect since independence.
In the eccentric field of competitive Scrabble, Pakistan’s youngsters reign supreme — the current youth world champions and past victors more times than any other nation since the tournament debuted in 2006.
“It requires a lot of hard work and determination,” said 13-year-old Asher after vanquishing a grey-bearded opponent.
“You have to trust the process for a very long time, and then gradually it will show the results.”
In this photograph taken on February 1, 2025, students compete in an inter-school Scrabble championship organised by the Pakistan Scrabble Association (PSA) at Bai Virbaiji Soparivala (BVS) Parsi school in Karachi. (AFP)
Karachi, a megacity shrugging off its old definition as a den of violent crime, is Pakistan’s incubator for talent in Scrabble — where players spell words linked like a crossword with random lettered tiles.
Schools in the southern port metropolis organize tutorials with professional Scrabble coaches and grant scholarships to top players, while parents push their kids to become virtuosos.
“They inculcate you in this game,” says Asher, one of around 100 players thronging a hotel function room for a Pakistan Scrabble Association (PSA) event as most of the city dozed through a Sunday morning.
In this photograph taken on February 16, 2025, Pakistani prodigy Bilal Asher, world under-14 Scrabble champion, competes against professional Scrabble coach Waseem Khatri during an event organised by the Pakistan Scrabble Association (PSA) at the Beach Luxury hotel in Karachi. (AFP)
Daunters (meaning intimidating people), imarets (inns for pilgrims) and trienes (chemical compounds containing three double bonds) are spelled out by ranks of seated opponents.
Some are so young their feet don’t touch the ground, as they use chess clocks to time their turns.
“They’re so interested because the parents are interested,” said 16-year-old Affan Salman, who became the world youth Scrabble champion in Sri Lanka last year.
“They want their children to do productive things — Scrabble is a productive game.”
English was foisted on the Indian subcontinent by Britain’s colonialism and an 1835 order from London started to systematize it as the main language of education.
The plan’s architect, Thomas Macaulay, said the aim was to produce “a class of persons, Indian in blood and color, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals and in intellect.”
In this photograph taken on February 1, 2025, students compete in an inter-school Scrabble championship organised by the Pakistan Scrabble Association (PSA) at Bai Virbaiji Soparivala (BVS) Parsi school in Karachi. (AFP)
It was instrumental in creating a colonial civil service to rule for Britain according to Kaleem Raza Khan, who teaches English at Karachi’s Salim Habib University.
“They started teaching English because they wanted to create a class of people, Indian people, who would be in the middle of the people and the rulers,” said Khan, whose wife and daughter are Scrabble devotees.
British rule ended in the bloody partition of 1947 creating India and Pakistan.
Today there are upwards of 70 languages spoken in Pakistan, but English remains an official state language alongside the lingua franca Urdu, and they mingle in daily usage.
Schools often still teach English with verbose colonial-era textbooks.
“The adaptation of English as the main language is definitely a relation to the colonial era,” PSA youth program director Tariq Pervez. “That is our main link.”
In this photograph taken on February 16, 2025, Pakistan Scrabble Association (PSA) youth programme director Tariq Pervez (C) teaches children competing in a Scrabble championship organised by PSA at the Beach Luxury hotel in Karachi. (AFP)
The English of Pakistani officialdom remains steeped in anachronistic words.
The prime minister describes militant attacks as “dastardly,” state media dubs protesters “miscreants” and the military denounces its “nefarious” adversaries.
Becoming fluent in the loquacious lingo of Pakistani English remains aspirational because of its association to the upper echelons.
In Pakistan more than a third of children between the ages of five and 16 are out of school — a total of nearly 26 million, according to the 2023 census.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif declared an “education emergency” last year to address the stark figures.
“People are interested in Scrabble because they can get opportunities for scholarships in universities or for jobs because it provides the vocab,” said Asher’s sister Manaal.
In this photograph taken on February 1, 2025, students compete in an inter-school Scrabble championship organised by the Pakistan Scrabble Association (PSA) at Bai Virbaiji Soparivala (BVS) Parsi school in Karachi. (AFP)
But the 14-year-old reigning female number one in Pakistan warned: “You’ve got to be resilient otherwise Scrabble isn’t right for you.”
In the Karachi hotel, Scrabble — invented in the 1930s during America’s Great Depression by an unemployed architect — is an informal training program for success in later life.
“The main language of learning is English,” said Pervez.
“This game has a great pull,” he added. “The demand is so big. So many kids want to play, we don’t have enough resources to accommodate all of them.”
At the youngest level the vocabulary of the players is more rudimentary: toy, tiger, jar, oink.
But professional Scrabble coach Waseem Khatri earns 250,000 rupees ($880) a month — nearly seven times the minimum wage — coaching some 6,000 students across Karachi’s school system to up their game.
In Pakistani English parlance “they try to express things in a more beautiful way — in a long way to express their feelings,” said 36-year-old Khatri.
“We try to utilize those words also in Scrabble.”
But when Asher wins he is overwhelmed with joy, and those long words don’t come so easily.
Joe Highsmith goes from making the cut to a PGA Tour winner at the Cognizant Classic
Highsmith rallied from a four-shot deficit Sunday with three straight birdies around the turn and a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th that all but clinched it
Highsmith, a 24-year-old lefty with a bucket hat and a broad smile, became the first player to make the cut on the number and win since Brandt Snedeker at Torrey Pines in 2016
Updated 03 March 2025
AP
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Florida: Two days after Joe Highsmith made a nervy par putt to make the cut, he won the Cognizant Classic with the lowest weekend ever at PGA National and is going to the Masters.
Highsmith rallied from a four-shot deficit Sunday with three straight birdies around the turn and a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th that all but clinched it, giving him another 6-under 64 to win his first PGA Tour title by two shots.
“Winning was the last thing on my mind,” Highsmith said. “It’s incredible to come out on top. I played probably the best round of my life.”
Highsmith had a little help from Jake Knapp, who opened the tournament with a 59 and held it together until one shot into the water and two more to get out.
Knapp, trying to become the first wire-to-wire winner in tournament history, had a one-shot lead when his wedge to the 11th came up short and into the water, with only half of the golf ball submerged. He tried to blast out and it trickled down the slope and back to the water. He tried again, this time the ball holding up in the rough.
“Didn’t hit any of them really hard enough, unfortunately,” Knapp said.
He wound up with a triple bogey and never caught up. Knapp didn’t make another birdie the rest of the way, closed with a 72 and tied for sixth along with Michael Kim (71), who played with him in the final group.
Jacob Bridgeman closed with a 64 and J.J. Spaun had a 66 to share second place.
“I was trying to make as many birdies as I could,” Bridgeman said. “I knew I had to do something kind of extraordinary today to catch the leaders, and I caught them, but they’re only on the ninth hole.”
His runner-up finish was enough to get him into the Arnold Palmer Invitational next week.
Highsmith, a 24-year-old lefty with a bucket hat and a broad smile, became the first player to make the cut on the number and win since Brandt Snedeker at Torrey Pines in 2016.
With so many players in the mix going into the final round, it was set up to be a wild finish, and five players had at least a share of the lead at one point.
Highsmith eliminated the drama in the final hour with a flawless round and an unforgettable weekend he played in 14-under 128. His big run started with a wedge to 3 feet on No. 9. He two-putted for birdie on the par-5 10th and rolled in an 18-foot birdie on No. 11.
He added a 15-foot birdie putt at the 13th to take control, and then sealed it with his birdie putt down the slope on the 17th.
Highsmith was all smiles coming off the 18th green with his caddie Joe LaCava IV, the son of the caddie who was on the bag for Masters champions Fred Couples in 1992 and Tiger Woods in 2019, and who now works for Patrick Cantlay.
Highsmith is the second first-time winner in as many weeks, following Brian Campbell winning the Mexico Open. He finished at 19-under 265 and picked up plenty of perks. Along with earning a place in the Masters and PGA Championship, Highsmith is in the remaining five signature events, starting next week at Bay Hill.
Jordan Spieth had four birdies in a five-hole stretch around the turn to get on the fringe of contention, only to play the final six holes in 1 over for a 68 to tie for ninth, his second top 10 in four starts since returning from wrist surgery last August.
Florida State junior Luke Clanton, who secured a PGA Tour card through the PGA Tour University program by making the cut, shot 69 and tied for 18th.
Highsmith shot the lowest 72-hole score since the tournament moved to PGA National, which has held two PGA Championships and a Ryder Cup, in 2007. The course was overseeded, making the rough less daunting and the fairways softer.
“I get that the overseed was there and the wind was down, but it’s still a stressful golf course, and this was some of the best golf I’ve seen played relative to what I would have thought would have happened on a golf course in quite a while,” Spieth said. “It’s crazy good golf out there.”
Milan crisis deepens after 3rd straight Serie A loss, this time to Lazio
Milan dropped to ninth in the standings and were leapfrogged by Roma after Claudio Ranieri’s team fought back to beat 10-man Como 2-1
Sixth-placed Bologna rallied to beat relegation-threatened Cagliari 2-1
Updated 03 March 2025
AP
MILAN: AC Milan fell further into crisis on Sunday as a stoppage-time penalty condemned them to a 2-1 defeat at home to Lazio in the Italian league.
Despite being reduced to 10 men, Milan managed to level in the 84th minute but Pedro converted a penalty in the eighth minute of stoppages.
This was Milan’s third straight Serie A loss amid a disastrous run that also saw the Rossoneri crash out of the Champions League.
Milan dropped to ninth in the standings and were leapfrogged by Roma after Claudio Ranieri’s team fought back to beat 10-man Como 2-1.
Lazio climbed back into fourth place — a point above Juventus, which hosts Hellas Verona on Monday.
Sixth-placed Bologna rallied to beat relegation-threatened Cagliari 2-1.
Late (and even later) drama
Lazio were also looking to get back to winning ways following two Serie A draws and being knocked out of the Italian Cup midweek by Inter Milan, also at San Siro.
Mattia Zaccagni gave Lazio the lead in the 28th minute. His initial attempt was saved by Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan but Zaccagni tapped in the rebound.
Milan’s chances of getting something from the match diminished in the 67th when defender Strahinja Pavlovic was shown a straight red card for a dangerous tackle on Lazio midfielder Matteo Guendouzi
Milan neverthless managed to find an equalizer when Rafael Leao whipped in a cross from the left for an unmarked Samuel Chukwueze to head in at the far post.
But there was even later drama when Lazio was awarded a penalty on video review after Maignan brought down visiting forward Gustav Isaksen. Pedro struck the spot kick into the bottom right corner.
Bologna boosts top 4 hopes
Riccardo Orsolini scored twice to help Bologna boost their chances of qualifying for the Champions League again.
Cagliari surprisingly reached the break ahead in Bologna after Roberto Piccoli’s 22nd-minute header.
But Bologna coach Vincenzo Italiano made three changes at halftime and his team leveled almost immediately as Orsolini converted a penalty after Cagliari midfielder Mattia Felici fouled Nicolò Cambiaghi — one of those substitutes.
Cambiaghi also rolled the ball across for Orsolini to tap in and complete the turnaround eight minutes later.
Cagliari are three points above the relegation zone.
Impact subs
Substitute Alexis Saelemaekers took just 120 seconds to help Roma turn their match round.
Roma were trailing at home to Como following Lucas Da Cunha’s goal on the stroke of halftime.
But the match changed in the 61st minute. Saelemaekers, who had only just come off the bench, played a one-two with Zeki Çelik and then a stroke of luck saw his effort deflected by Como defender Edoardo Goldaniga, going in off the underside of the crossbar.
It quickly got worse for Como as they almost immediately went down to 10 men when defender Marc-Oliver Kempf was sent off following a second yellow card.
Halftime substitute Artem Dovbyk scored the winner in the 76th, volleying in a cross from Devyne Rensch — who had been on the field for less than two minutes.
It was Roma’s 11th league match unbeaten since a loss at Como on Dec. 15 and sent Ranieri’s team up to eighth, six points below Juventus.
Empoli, who surprisingly knocked defending champions Juventus out of the Italian Cup midweek, drew 1-1 at Genoa to remain in the bottom three, one point from safety.
Al-Ittihad denied crucial win by late Al-Okhdood strike
Frustrated Al-Ittihad lose chance to go 8 points clear
Still plenty of life left in Saudi Pro League title chase
Updated 52 min 50 sec ago
John Duerden
JEDDAH: Al-Ittihad were held to a 1-1 draw by Al-Okhdood on Sunday and while the leaders moved six points clear at the top of the Saudi Pro League, it was a frustrating evening in Jeddah.
Deep into injury time and just seconds away from the final whistle, the Tigers were leading and ready to go eight points above Al-Hilal but a late equalizer means there is plenty of life left in the title race yet.
It also means that Okhdood are just two points off safety at the bottom of the table.
At half-time, Al-Ittihad were looking good to take full advantage of Al-Hilal’s loss against Al-Ahli on Friday. Karim Benzema and Moussa Diaby have been in fine attacking form this season and came close to breaking the deadlock in the opening half hour.
It came, however, six minutes before the break. Houssem Aouar grabbed his 10th goal of the season to put the Jeddah giants ahead. It was a special strike.
The Algerian received a pass from Hassan Kadesh on the left corner of the penalty box, spun to lose his marker, and then danced into the area to fire a low shot into the opposite corner.
In the second half, it seemed to be only a matter of time before Laurent Blanc’s men extended their lead and sealed a crucial win. Soon after the restart, Benzema hit the post as the French forward looked for his 17th league goal of the season.
More chances came, for the former Real Madrid star as well as his teammates, but none were converted. It all meant that Al-Ittihad were left to regret their wastefulness in the 97th minute.
The league leaders failed to clear a corner from the left and the ball fell to Christian Bassogog at the edge of the area and the Cameroonian left fly with a fierce shot that flew into the top corner.
The home crowd were stunned into silence while, in Riyadh, there was suddenly a little hope with 11 games left to play.
Barcelona routs 10-man Real Sociedad 4-0 to go top in Spain
“Very happy with the match we played,” Araujo said. “It was important to win and become leaders again. It was a great effort by the team”
Updated 03 March 2025
AP
MADRID: Barcelona cruised to a 4-0 rout over 10-man Real Sociedad to regain the lead in Spain on Sunday.
Gerard Martín, Marc Casadó, Ronald Araujo and Robert Lewandowski scored a goal each to put Barcelona one point ahead of second-placed Atletico Madrid at the top of the Spanish league. Barcelona is three points ahead of third-placed Real Madrid, which lost 2-1 at Real Betis on Saturday, when Atletico beat Athletic Bilbao 1-0 at home.
“Very happy with the match we played,” Araujo said. “It was important to win and become leaders again. It was a great effort by the team.”
Sociedad played a man down from the 17th minute after Aritz Elustondo was sent off with a straight red card for grabbing Barcelona forward Dani Olmo to stop a breakaway.
“It was a clear red card,” Sociedad coach Imanol Alguacil said. “After that there was no game. It’s already hard 11 against 11 against them, you can imagine with a man down.”
It was the sixth win in a row for Barcelona in the league, and the second loss in three matches for Sociedad, which stayed in ninth place.
Barcelona coach Hansi Flick rested some regular starters ahead of the team’s Champions League match at Benfica on Wednesday in the first leg of the round of 16.
Prolific Lewandowski
Barcelona was in control from the start at Montjuic stadium, with Martín scoring in the 25th and Casadó in the 29th. Araujo added to the lead in the 56th and Lewandowski closed the scoring in the 60th for his eighth goal in his last nine matches.
Lewandowski now has 34 goals this season in all competitions, one more than the 33 he scored in what had been his previous best season with the Catalan club in 2022-23.
Sociedad, which along with Barcelona, Madrid and Atletico is playing in the Copa del Rey semifinals, struggled from the start and had no attempts on goal. Barcelona had 33 total attempts.
Sociedad defender Hamari Traoré entered the match in the second half to mark his return to action nearly six months after having to undergo knee surgery.
Earlier Sunday, striker Diego García scored two minutes into second-half stoppage time to give 16th-placed Leganes a 1-0 win over 14th-placed Getafe in a match between teams from the Madrid area.
Valencia later Sunday has a chance to move out of the relegation zone with a win at Osasuna.
