LAHORE - Asian Football Confederation President Mohammed bin Hamman hailed the working of the Pakistan Football Federation Chief during the AFC Annual Awards Gala, which will provide the perfect boost to Pakistan football and help exploit the untapped potential of the game in this country. PFF General Secretary Lt. Col (r) Ahmed Khan Yar Lodhi said: "Pakistan has a strong tradition of sports and football is emerging to be one of the country's passions. PFF president Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat pledged to continue his drive towards modern football with emphasis on youth development, women soccer and to professionalize the game in Pakistan has earned lot of praise during the AFC gala. During AFC Annual Awards 2008 Gala at the Shanghai (China), Hammam assured Faisal that the PFF would be the 15th country to be part of the AFC's Vision Asia program in 2009 and AFC Chief also asked the concerned departments of the AFC to double the salary in order to accommodate more coaches of Pakistan for AID-27 Scheme plus hosting rights of Age-Group events under AFC Umbrella to the PFF. "Vision Asia is the creation of AFC President, who launched the program in September 2002. It is the AFC's grand plan for a continent-wide program to raise the standards of Asian football at all levels, be it on the field of play, administration or sports science," said Lodhi. Lodhi quoted Hammam that the PFF is truly on the way to improve soccer in Pakistan. The Kuala-Lumpur based AFC is satisfy with the PFF's performance and no one can deny the fact that when Faisal took over in 2003, football was out of sorts and people used to turn deaf ear towards it but now it is being played in every nook and corner of Pakistan. "We have achieved a lot in the last five years and enhancement of Pakistan soccer exposure to 2100 percent from 2003 to 2008 as compare to activities from 1999 to 2003 showed that we are serious, committed about uplift and welfare of this game in this part of the world," he added. Hammam called Pakistan's 0-0 draw against Asian Champions Iraq at Damascus as one of the most sensational results in entire history of World Cup Qualifiers as it was the clash between developed (Iraq) and emerging (Pakistan) nation. He also praised the organisational and technical qualities of the PFF while quoting the example of successful AFC President's Cup at Lahore last year. He had asked the AFC Competition Cell to award Qualifying Group of any of the three AFC U13, U16 and U19 Championship to PFF. "It is big feat that despite security concern when cricket and hockey teams are drifting away from Pakistani soil, AFC reposed their confidence on the PFF. Our current set-up is serious about hosting international events every year," said Lodhi. Hammam also appreciated the efforts of the PFF on grass root and youth development programmes and promised increase of number of coaches for Pakistan in Asian Football Confederation (AFC) AID-27 Financial Assistance Scheme. "The PFF have currently 27 youth coaches to spot, select and train potential U-13 to U-18 players as part of the PFF Youth Development Program. Pakistan is among the 27 nations who are eligible for the AID-27 Scheme, and are receiving the AFC financial support for development through the salary for coaches, especially grassroots and youth coaches," said Lodhi.