{"id":100649,"date":"2025-03-14T15:56:19","date_gmt":"2025-03-14T15:56:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=100649"},"modified":"2025-03-14T15:56:19","modified_gmt":"2025-03-14T15:56:19","slug":"pm-sharif-meets-footballer-muhammad-riaz-grants-rs2-5m-aid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/100649\/","title":{"rendered":"PM Sharif meets footballer Muhammad Riaz, grants Rs2.5m aid"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Pakistan(National Times)- PM Shehbaz Sharif after taking notice of the financial difficulties faced by the national footballer, whose video of selling funnel cakes (Jalebi) recently went viral, invited him to the PM House. Praising courage and determination of the football player, the prime minister said \u201cYou are the country\u2019s talented player, and we will not let your talent go to waste\u201d. He said Pakistani youth were a valuable asset to the country, and providing them with all types of facilities and resources for international competitiveness was the top priority of the government. \u201cYouth should actively participate in sports and other healthy activities,\u201d Shehbaz Sharif remarked. He urged Muhammad Riaz to continue playing and play an active role in promoting football in Pakistan. The prime minister directed that Muhammad Riaz be given a job in his preferred federal department. He also instructed that national players should be provided jobs in government institutions according to their abilities.  Pakistani footballer turns jalebi seller due to financial hardships The prime minister emphasized the need to accelerate efforts for the promotion of sports in the country. \u201cA strategy should be formulated for the welfare of players representing Pakistan internationally and to provide them with sustainable employment opportunities,\u201d he said. Muhammad Riaz thanked the prime minister for the financial assistance. He also thanked PM Shehbaz Sharif for his efforts towards the welfare of the players and the promotion of sports. The meeting was attended by federal ministers Ataullah Tarar, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, PM\u2019s Adviser Rana Sanaullah, Chairman of the PM\u2019s Youth Program Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan, and Media Coordinator Badar Shehbaz Warraich.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pakistan(National Times)- PM Shehbaz Sharif after taking notice of the financial difficulties faced by the national footballer, whose video of selling funnel cakes (Jalebi) recently went viral, invited him to the PM House. Praising courage and determination of the football player, the prime minister said \u201cYou are the country\u2019s talented player, and we will not [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":100650,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>PM Sharif meets footballer Muhammad Riaz, grants Rs2.5m aid - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/100649\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PM Sharif meets footballer Muhammad Riaz, grants Rs2.5m aid - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Pakistan(National Times)- PM Shehbaz Sharif after taking notice of the financial difficulties faced by the national footballer, whose video of selling funnel cakes (Jalebi) recently went viral, invited him to the PM House. Praising courage and determination of the football player, the prime minister said \u201cYou are the country\u2019s talented player, and we will not [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/100649\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-14T15:56:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/image-670x370-96-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"670\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"370\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/100649\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/100649\/\",\"name\":\"PM Sharif meets footballer Muhammad Riaz, grants Rs2.5m aid - Nation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/100649\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/100649\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/image-670x370-96-1.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-14T15:56:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/100649\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/100649\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/100649\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/image-670x370-96-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/image-670x370-96-1.png\",\"width\":670,\"height\":370},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/100649\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"PM Sharif meets footballer Muhammad Riaz, grants Rs2.5m aid\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\",\"name\":\"Nation\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\",\"name\":\"humza Jahangir\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"humza Jahangir\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/author\/humza\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"PM Sharif meets footballer Muhammad Riaz, grants Rs2.5m aid - Nation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/100649\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"PM Sharif meets footballer Muhammad Riaz, grants Rs2.5m aid - Nation","og_description":"Pakistan(National Times)- PM Shehbaz Sharif after taking notice of the financial difficulties faced by the national footballer, whose video of selling funnel cakes (Jalebi) recently went viral, invited him to the PM House. Praising courage and determination of the football player, the prime minister said \u201cYou are the country\u2019s talented player, and we will not [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/100649\/","og_site_name":"Nation","article_published_time":"2025-03-14T15:56:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":670,"height":370,"url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/image-670x370-96-1.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"humza Jahangir","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"humza Jahangir","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/100649\/","url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/100649\/","name":"PM Sharif meets footballer Muhammad Riaz, grants Rs2.5m aid - Nation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/100649\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/100649\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/image-670x370-96-1.png","datePublished":"2025-03-14T15:56:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/100649\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/100649\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/100649\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/image-670x370-96-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/image-670x370-96-1.png","width":670,"height":370},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/100649\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"PM Sharif meets footballer Muhammad Riaz, grants Rs2.5m aid"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/","name":"Nation","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16","name":"humza Jahangir","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"humza Jahangir"},"url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/author\/humza\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100649"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100649\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100651,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100649\/revisions\/100651"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}