Tariq Lutfi

Umar Farooq Tariq Lutfi (born 20 September 1951) is a Pakistani football coach and former midfielder. Lutfi has the distinction of being the first-ever FIFA Coaching Instructor from South Asia, and has been described as one of the most experienced football coaches from Pakistan.

Playing career Lutfi joined Pakistan Airlines as player on 15 March 1976. He played for the team till 1985, winning the National Football Championship with the team several times in 1976, 1978, and 1981.

Coaching career

Pakistan national team Lutfi took over charge of the national men’s team for the first time at the 1985 South Asian Games in Dhaka. The next year he led the team at the 1986 Quaid-e-Azam International Tournament and the 1986 Asian Games.

In 1989, he replaced Burkhard Ziese as caretaker manager two days before facing the United Arab Emirates at the second leg of the 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification in February 1989. He was also member of the coaching staff as assistant coach under Muhammad Aslam Japani during the 1991 South Asian Games when Pakistan won the gold medal. The same year, Lutfi briefly managed Karachi Bazigar in the Super Football League 2007 campaign.

In 2010, Lutfi was appointed coach of the Pakistan women football team, becoming the first ever in the history of the newly formed team. Tariq coached the team for the first SAFF Women Championship in Bangladesh where the team reached the semi-finals.

Return to Pakistan national team The next year returned as caretaker coach of Pakistan national team in 2011, but was replaced by Zaviša Milosavljević. The same year, he also coached the Pakistan under-23 team for the 2012 Summer Olympic Qualifiers against Malaysia.

Khan Research Laboratories Lutfi was appointed the head coach for Khan Research Laboratories before the start of 2011-12 Pakistan Premier League season, replacing KRL long term head coach Sajjad Mehmood. Lufti also won the Pakistan National Football Challenge Cup on four occasions, winning the competition in 2011 and then successfully defending it in the edition, defeating K-Electric on both occasions in the finals. He left the team in March 2015.

Sui Southern Gas In 2017, Lutfi was appointed as the head coach for second division side Sui Southern Gas after a successful tenure with Khan Research Laboratories. Lutfi won three out four silverware they competed for after winning Major Tufail Shaheed Memorial Football Tournament, All Pakistan Salahuddin Dogar Memorial Football Tournament and winning the second division title to achieve the promotion to Pakistan Premier League.

Return to Pakistan Following the expulsion of Faisal Saleh Hayat by FIFA, Lutfi was assigned the head coach role again in 2019, for a tour in Malaysia, until the Pakistan Football Federation was banned again briefly after.

Honours

Player

Pakistan Airlines

National Football Championship: 1976, 1978, 1981

Manager

Khan Research Laboratories Pakistan Premier League: 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14 Pakistan National Football Challenge Cup: 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016

Sui Southern Gas Pakistan Football Federation League: 2017-18

Individual

Pakistan Sports Awards: 2019