Pakistani football officials have reportedly invited Argentine legend Diego Maradona to visit the country after the former player and coach disparagingly compared his own country's association to the South Asian nation's.
Maradona, who helped Argentina win the 1986 World Cup, had accused the Argentine Football Association (AFA) of 'understanding as much about football as Pakistan does'.
According to The Dawn, Naveed Haider, a senior official of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) urged Maradona, who is a sports ambassador for Dubai, to visit Pakistan to lift the game's profile in the country, although he added that 158th-ranked Pakistan had made great strides in recent times.
Citing Pakistan winning the Asian Football Confederation's 'Aspiring Nation' award last year, Haider also said that Pakistan had climbed in the rankings from a low of 172 last year to their current position, and had recently drawn a match with higher-ranked Malaysia.
Another official slammed Maradona's comments as 'out-of-date', saying that although the football icon would be right if he was talking 12 years back, however, he federation is taking many steps, including improving its youth programme, to mark its way to the top of world football.