Muhammad Naveed Akram (; born May 16, 1984) is a Pakistani former

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

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

Club career

WAPDA

Akram won three

Pakistan Premier League The Pakistan Premier League (PPL; ) is a Pakistani semi-professional league for men's football clubs. The top tier of the Pakistan football league system, the PPL operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the PFFL B Division. The ...

titles with WAPDA F. C. (in the 2004–05, 2007–08, 2008–09 and

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

seasons) during his stint with the club from 2003 until 2014. He was part of the Lahore Lajpaal team that lost in the semi-finals of Geo Super Football League.

Loan to Saraswoti Youth Club

In 2011, Akram along with club compatriot

Mehmood Ali Mehmood Ali (29 September 1932 – 23 July 2004), popularly known simply as Mehmood, was an Indian actor, singer, Film director, director and Film producer, producer, best known for playing comic roles in Bollywood, Hindi films.

were loaned to Nepali club

Saraswoti Youth Club Saraswoti Youth Club is a Nepali football club from the Koteshwor neighborhood of Kathmandu that currently competes in the Martyr's Memorial B-Division League. They have also played in the Martyr's Memorial A-Division League in several seasons. T ...

from May to July for the 2011 Martyr's Memorial A-Division League campaign. Both made their debut for the club in 21 May 2011, following a 0–2 loss against

Brigade Boys Club Brigade Boys Club is a Nepalese professional football club from Lalitpur, which plays in Kathmandu. Founded in 1987, the club competes in the Nepalese first division, the Martyr's Memorial A-Division League Martyr's Memorial A-Division League ...

at the Dasarath Rangsala Stadium. One month on, the duo helped the club win two games and reach the team target to climb out of the relegation zone.

Lyallpur

Akram had a short stint at

Lyallpur Faisalabad, formerly known as Lyallpur, is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, second-largest city and primary List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, industrial center of the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan ...

in 2014, before his eventual retirement.

International career

Akram was called by the Pakistan under-23 national team for the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

and

2006 South Asian Games The 2006 South Asian Games (also known as the 10th South Asian Games) were held in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 18 August to 28 August 2006, in the Sugathadasa Stadium with more than 2000 sportspersons competing in the record 20 disciplines of Sports. ...

, where he helped Pakistan win the gold medal. He made his senior debut with

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# ...

on 12 June 2005 which was the first game in a series of three games against

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, the game finished 1–1 draw to Pakistan He was subsequently called for the

2005 SAFF Gold Cup The 2005 SAFF Gold Cup was the sixth edition of SAFF Gold Cup. It was the second time the competition was held in Pakistan. All matches were held at the People's Football Stadium in Karachi. The tournament started on 7 December and ended on 17 D ...

. He scored his first goal on 15 November 2006 in the 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification, in the eventual 2–3 loss against

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a federal elective monarchy made up of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi serving as i ...

. He also featured at the

2006 Asian Games The 2006 Asian Games (), officially known as the XV Asiad or 15th Asian Games (, and commonly known as Doha 2006 (), were an Asian multi-sport event held in Doha, Qatar, from December 1 to 15, 2006, with 424 events in 39 sports featured in the ga ...

, where he scored a long range goal in the eventual 2–3 loss against

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Playing style

Naveed plays as an attacking right back on the pitch, and always tends to assist in the attacking plays as well as having a knack of scoring goals himself. He is most known for his memorable long range goal in the

, when Pakistan came close to a huge upset against

Post-retirement

On 29 March 2021, Akram was appointed as secretary general of the

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 ...

, following a controversial takeover by Syed Ashfaq Hussain Shah, which eventually leaded to a ban by

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

on the federation. Three years later on 28 August 2024, Akram along with 21 former officials faced a lifetime ban due to their alleged role in creating a parallel association and orchestrating a hostile takeover of the PFF offices.

Career statistics

International

International goals

U-23

Senior

Honours

WAPDA

* National Football Championship: 2003 *

: 2004–05, 2007–08, 2008–09,

Pakistan U23

South Asian Games The South Asian Games is a quadrennial multi-sport event held among athletes from South Asia. The South Asia Olympic Council, which was formed in 1983, governs it. The Games consist of seven countries, namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, N ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

References

External links

Naveed Akram scores for Pakistan
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Akram, Naveed 1984 births Living people Pakistani men's footballers Pakistan men's international footballers Pakistani expatriate men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Footballers from Multan WAPDA F.C. players Lyallpur FC players Footballers at the 2006 Asian Games South Asian Games gold medalists for Pakistan Asian Games footballers for Pakistan South Asian Games medalists in football 21st-century Pakistani sportsmen