We Manage Dreams: Islamabad Club Nurtures Underprivileged Football Talent

Mudassar Chudhry – Tufail Gul tightened his shoelaces and stepped onto the pitch at Islamabad’s F-12 multi-purpose ground earlier this week. He weaved past defenders and confidently sent the ball into the net. Not long ago, the 22-year-old was baking bread at a small shop in his hometown of Pindi Gheb, around 100 kilometers from the capital.

Coming from a low-income family, Gul still works as a chef—a setup arranged by his club at its hostel so he can support his household. Yet his eyes are set firmly on one goal: earning a spot in Pakistan’s national football team.

In Pakistan, cricket dominates the public eye and funding as a multi-billion-rupee industry, leaving football on the sidelines. While the sport enjoys passionate grassroots followings in places like Balochistan and Karachi’s Lyari neighborhood, it has long struggled with poor administration, limited facilities, and few development pathways for young players. As a result, Pakistan currently sits 199th out of 210 teams in FIFA’s world rankings.

Against this challenging backdrop, POPO Football Club—widely known as POPO FC—has become a rare beacon of hope, focusing on discovering and nurturing underprivileged talent despite minimal institutional support.

“POPO is essentially a dream management organization,” said Haris bin Haroon, the club’s president. “We help manage the dreams of underprivileged kids who don’t have the resources or financial means to play football.”

Founded in 2013, POPO FC identifies raw talent through trials, personal recommendations, and even viral social media videos. Over the past two years, the club has guided 36 players into Pakistan’s Under-23, Under-19, and Under-17 national teams.

“My parents are happy seeing me play football,” Gul said, adding that they appreciate that “I can work alongside football and still move forward in life.”

Haroon, 37, who holds a master’s degree in management sciences and previously taught at the International Islamic University Islamabad, said the idea for the club took shape after a student’s unfulfilled football aspirations left a lasting impression on him.

Today, POPO FC operates as a residential academy, a rarity in Pakistan, offering free accommodation, meals, training and education to players with talent but no financial backing.

“At the moment, we have kids from all over Pakistan,” Haroon said, listing Panjgur, Dukki, Parachinar, Waziristan, Chitral, Mansehra, Azad Kashmir and Faisalabad.

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“It is not POPO FC Islamabad, it is POPO FC Pakistan. Like Pakistan gathering to Islamabad.”

The club’s intake combines structured trials with informal discovery. Players who gain attention online are often contacted directly.

One such case was Ihsanullah Khan, a seven-year-old from Dukki in Balochistan, who was brought to Islamabad after his football skills went viral in 2019 and were featured by local and international media, including Arab News.

POPO FC aims to provide what Haroon describes as a “holistic environment,” covering not only football training but also nutrition, housing and education. Players receive tailored diets high in carbohydrates and protein for training and recovery, while schooling is treated as a core requirement rather than an afterthought.

The club is currently training 104 players, including 47 full-time residents at its hostel who attend public and private schools, universities or sit for exams privately.

“We are providing them with education, and we are trying to provide them with the best education which I can possibly do,” Haroon said. “We are trying to cover all the aspects of life.”

Among the club’s standout success stories is Abdul Samad, 15, captain of Pakistan’s Under-17 team. Originally from Swat, Samad joined POPO FC eight years ago.

“I became captain because I had leadership qualities, I knew how to manage the team, and my game was strong,” he told Arab News.

Recalling his early days, Samad said: “I would eat biscuits for all three meals and train twice a day, and that is how I reached this stage.”

“Now we have full facilities, everything, including food and education,” the ninth-grader said after a match.

One of the youngest recruits is Bait Ullah, a nine-year-old from militancy-hit South Waziristan, selected on the first day of trials last year.

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Nicknamed “Nano Messi” by his peers, he has enrolled in school alongside daily training.

“Here, we play with the ball, whereas before we were mostly doing running,” he said. “I like Messi’s dribbling and passing, and when I grow up, I will become Messi.”

Living far from his family in a remote and volatile region, the sacrifice is not lost on him.

“Of course, I miss my parents, brothers, and sisters,” the nine-year-old said. “I am making this sacrifice so I can become a great footballer.”