LAHORE: The FIFA World Cup Trophy is set to come to Pakistan on June 7, marking it the second time it will come to the country since the world football governing body began sending the iconic piece of silverware on a tour across the globe.
The FIFA World Cup Trophy tour was kicked off yesterday in Dubai where the Football World Cup winners Iker Casillas and Kaka put the original FIFA trophy tour on display.
“We are now in a position to confirm that the FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour by Coca Cola is intending to visit Islamabad on June 7,” a FIFA spokesperson told a private news channel.
The spokesperson further said, “The FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour by Coca-Cola will stop in 51 countries and territories, bringing Coca-Cola and FIFA one step closer to the goal of visiting each of FIFA’s 211 member associations by 2030.”
“After UAE, the tour will make several debut stops across the Middle East, visiting Oman, Bahrain, and Kuwait. For the first time ever, the tour will visit all 32 countries that qualified for the FIFA World Cup, inspiring fans across the world through exclusive consumer experiences,” the spokesperson added.
In 2018, World Cup winner from France Christian Karembeu brought the trophy to Pakistan and put it on display for fans in the country, and will visit the country once again.
The organisers have confirmed that the trophy will come to Pakistan from Uzbekistan and stay in the country for one day before flying to Saudi Arabia.
It is uncertain if the FIFA appointed normalisation committee in Pakistan will be directly involved in the trophy tour or not as the country is currently suspended from FIFA’s membership.
Pakistan was banned by FIFA after the Lahore High Court (LHC) intervened following a disputed election of the PFF in 2015 and appointed an administrator to handle the affairs.
