Ghulam Abbas Baloch (October 1942 – 4 April 2014), was a Pakistani professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a winger. Abbas represented the

Pakistan national football team The Pakistan national football team () represents Pakistan in men's international Association football, football in FIFA-authorized events and is controlled by the Pakistan Football Federation, the governing body for football in Pakistan. Paki ...

from 1961 to 1963.

Early life

Abbas grew up in a poor family in Saifi Lane, Baghdadi,

Lyari Lyari (Urdu: ; ; Balochi: لێاری) is a historic locality in Karachi, Pakistan. It is the most densely populated part of Karachi, and is one of its earliest settled areas. History Lyari is said to be one of the oldest inhabited parts of Kar ...

. Belonging to the Sheedi community, Abbas' paternal ancestors belonged to

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

, who came during the

Indian Ocean slave trade The Indian Ocean slave trade, sometimes known as the East African slave trade, involved the capture and transportation of predominately sub-Saharan African slaves along the coasts, such as the Swahili Coast and the Horn of Africa, and through ...

. His relatives from

Zanzibar Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small Island, islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island. ...

and

Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (, ; from ) is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of the Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over 7 million people, Dar es Salaam is the largest city in East Africa by population and the ...

in present-day

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

often came to Pakistan to visit his grandfather, and

Bilawal Belgium Muhammad Bilal, commonly known as Bilawal Belgium (1928 – 26 August 1977) was a Pakistani Benju and classical music player and composer. He was recognized for his distinctive integration of the Banjo and Swarmandal. He mainly performed with Radi ...

, a famous

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

musician who also belonged to Abbas's family. He completed his primary education at SM Lyari School and passed his matriculation examination privately. He studied up to the intermediate level at SM College, earned a BA from Urdu College, and obtained both an LLB and an MA from

Karachi University The University of Karachi (; informally Karachi University, KU, or UoK) is a public research university located in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Established in June 1951 by an act of Parliament and as a successor to the University of Sindh (which is ...

Club career

Early career

Abbas plied his trade in numerous clubs in

West Pakistan West Pakistan was the western province of Pakistan between One Unit, 1955 and Legal Framework Order, 1970, 1970, covering the territory of present-day Pakistan. Its land borders were with Afghanistan, India and Iran, with a maritime border wit ...

(now

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

), such Baloch XI, Gul Muhammad Lane, Saifi Lane Club, Nisar Sports Club, Pakistan Tobacco Company, Karachi Port Trust FC,

PIA FC Pakistan International Airlines Football Club, abbreviated as PIA FC, served as the Works team, football section of Pakistan International Airlines. Based in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, Sindh, the club used to compete in the National Football Champ ...

East Pakistan

1963 Aga Khan Gold Cup runners-up Dhaka Wanderers Club

In 1962, he joined the

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

-based club

Victoria SC Victoria Sporting Club (), commonly known as Victoria SC, is a football club based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Founded in 1903, the club competes in the Dhaka Second Division Football League, Dhaka Second Division League, the fourth tier of football i ...

and won the quadruple, including the First Division League, Aga Khan Gold Cup, Independence Day Cup, and the Mohammad Ali Bogra Shield. During the

Aga Khan Gold Cup The Aga Khan Gold Cup was a tournament played in Dhaka, Bangladesh which invited the club sides from leading football nations of Asia to compete. Many renowned football pundits regard this competition as a predecessor of the AFC Champions League ...

final against

feeder team In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful pl ...

for

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, Abbas, who played as an inside-left, scored in a 5–1 victory. Prior to his impressive stint at Victoria, Abbas represented Mohammedan SC in 1961, where he won the domestic double in his lone season.

Final years

In 1967, Abbas won the Mohammad Ali Bogra Shield while representing Karachi Municipal Corporation FC, toppling runners-up Mohammedan SC by two points in the four team round-robin tournament.

International career

Abbas received his first callup to the Pakistan national team for three exhibition matches against

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

on home soil. In the second friendly, held in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

on 20 January 1961, he scored a brace in a 4–0. Abbas scored the first goal for Pakistan in the Summer Olympics qualifiers against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

on 4 October 1963. The game held in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

ended in a 4–1 defeat, and after Pakistan won their home leg in Karachi by a single goal, they were knocked out of the qualifiers on aggregate score.

Post–playing career

Abbas was appointed

Pakistan Football Federation The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) is the national governing body of association football in Football in Pakistan, Pakistan. It is a member of FIFA, the international governing body of Association football, football, and affiliated to the A ...

General Secretary in 1995, and held that position till 1999. He was also the founding general secretary and Chairman of the Sindh FA. During his time as Sindh FA chairman, Abbas was accused of selecting provincial teams based on personal bias. On 31 December 2010, the Pakistan Football Federation awarded him with an honorary AFC gold medal.

Personal life and death

Abbas' elder brother Fida Hussain died after an addiction to drugs. His younger brothers, Ghulam Ali was also a footballer, while his other younger sibling Saba Dashtyari was a popular professor who died by gunshot wounds amidst the political turmoil in

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region o ...

. Abbas had a profound friendship with fellow teammates Abdul Ghafoor and Abdullah Rahi, who hailed from the same neighbourhood. He died on 4 April 2014 due to a long-term illness. His death was condoled by FIFA president

Sepp Blatter Joseph Sepp Blatter (born Josef Blatter; 10 March 1936) is a Swiss former association football, football administrator who served as the list of Presidents of FIFA, eighth president of FIFA from 1998 to 2015. He has been banned from participatin ...

and AFC president Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa.

Career statistics

International goals

:''Scores and results list Pakistan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Abbas goal.''

Honours

Victoria SC * Dhaka First Division League: 1962, 1964 *

: 1962 Mohammedan SC * Dhaka First Division League: 1961

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baloch, Ghulam Abbas 1942 births 2014 deaths Pakistani men's footballers Pakistan men's international footballers Living people Pakistan International Airlines FC players Karachi Port Trust FC players Victoria Sporting Club players Mohammedan SC (Dhaka) players Dhaka Wanderers Club players People from Lyari Town Men's association football wingers 20th-century Pakistani sportsmen University of Karachi alumni