Pakistan to appear in London Olympics Qualifiers

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Pakistan to appear in London Olympics Qualifiers

Lahore, Jun 28 : Pakistan has decided to feature in the qualifying rounds of every major events including the 2012 London Olympics, for which the schedule is likely to be released later this year.

Speaking to 'The News', PFF secretary Col Ahmed Yar Lodhi said World Cup would also be another event which the national team would aim to qualify.

''We have decided to feature in all the qualifying rounds of the big spectacles including the Olympics and World Cup and have already intimated the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) about our resolve,'' Lodhi said.

However, he said that the schedule for the Olympic Qualifiers, which will be held next year, will be released in September or October.

Meanwhile, the AFC have also confirmed Pakistan's entry for the Olympic Qualifiers.

Around 34 teams, including Pakistan, will fight it out for three or four spots in the men's competitions in the Olympic Qualifiers.

The 2012 Summer Olympic Games
are slated to be held in London from July 27-August 12. London will become the first city to host the Olympic Games for record three times, having previously done so in 1908 and in 1948.

According to the FIFA-revised quota system for Olympic football, an extra seat would be allotted to either Asia or Africa in the 2012 London Games. The Asian and African nations currently compete for three seats, respectively, at the Olympics.

Under the system, host nations get an automatic seat at the Olympic football events. And those countries that end fourth in both Asia and African qualifiers are set to compete against each other to advance to the Olympics.

Participating teams in the men's competitions are: Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, DPR Korea, Korea Republic, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman
, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, UAE, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Yemen.

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