Boateng, Ronaldinho and James to play exhibition games in Pakistan
Former Dutch footballer George Boateng, Barcelona great Ronaldinho and ex-England goalkeeper David James will be among seven famous footballers to participate in exhibition games come July in Pakistan.
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The organisers said on Thursday that the fixtures are part of plans to build on the "comfort zone" from the successful staging of the Pakistan Super League cricket final in Lahore earlier this month.
Boateng, 41, is a former Dutch footballer who is of Ghanaian descent and currently the technical director of Kelantan FA playing in Malaysia Super League.
Pakistan had been mostly off limits for foreign sports teams since terrorist attacks on the Sri Lankan cricket team's bus in 2009.
The legends are being brought to the country by the UK-based Leisure Leagues - organisers of 5, 6 and 7-a-side tournaments which recently announced plans to expand to Pakistan.
Ishaq Shah, chief operating officer of Leisure Leagues Pakistan, said the stars would play exhibition games alongside selected local players in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.
"There is no doubt the staging of the PSL has provided a comfort zone and the visit of these foreign stars will rebrand Pakistan as hub of sports," said Shah, who did not name the other four players.
Pakistan sporting greats including cricket's Javed Miandad backed the plans, with Miandad saying he was honoured to be an ambassador for the league.
"Football is the most popular sport in the world and in my playing days I used to follow Newcastle United so once this game is popular in Pakistan people will forget cricket," said Miandad.