Karachi Zone West to hold U16 trials from 10 April

In preparation for the Syed Liaquat Ali Shah Memorial Football Tournament, named after the late Senior Vice Chairman of Karachi Zonal FA West who died last month, 8 teams of U16 age bracket will take part from Zone West region.

2 teams from Baldia Town, and one each from Kemari, Mauripur, Orangi, Banaras, Old Golimar, and Garden will be taking part in this memorial tournament for U16 teams.

Secretary West Rahim Bakhsh has directed the members of Zone West to prepare teams for this tournament. Baldia Town resident and member Zone West, Iqbal Minhas, has been named coordinator for the event while former international Ayub Alam will head a selection committee that will supervise the trials. Other members of the selection committee include international star Farooq Shah (NBP), Saleem Faiz, and Fazal Baloch.

Open trials will be held from 10 April 2011 from 3:30 PM onwards at Young Noorani Ground, Baldia Town No. 7. Players born on or after 1 January 1995 will be allowed to take part in trials for their selection. All aspiring players are requested to bring their 'B' Form to prove their ages and report themselves to Iqbal Minhas for taking part in trials.

The top 3 teams from the Syed Liaquat Ali Shah Memorial Tournament will then represent Zone West in the KESC U16 Football Tournament to be scheduled in coming months

AKU Inter-University Football: BMU beat LNMC 6-1, BUITMS stun hosts AKU 1-0

Organised by the Aga Khan University (AKU) Sports & Rehabilitation Centre at the AKU Football Ground, the 9th AKU Inter-University Football Tournament 2011 saw the results 3 games in Day 3 of its competition on 6 April 2011.

In Group 'D', Baqai Medical College (BMU) smashed hapless Liaquat National Medical College (LNMU) a resounding 6-1, after being 3-0 up at half time. A brace each from Attaullah (19' & 23') and Rafiullah (13' & 69') as well as goals from Murtaza Ghazi (56') and Shaz Zafar (62') completed the rout for BMU. Muhammad Ashraf managed solitary goal for LNMU in 48th minute.

In another Group 'D' encounter, PNEC-NUST beat Ziauddin University (ZU) 3-0 after a goal-less first half. Abdul Rehman (46'), Muhammad Hamza (64') and Najam Shah (65') scored in 2nd half to give PNEC-NUST their first win of the campaign.

In Group 'B', hosts Aga Khan University (AKU) were stunned to a 0-1 defeat at hands of gutsy Balochistan University of Information Technology & Management Sciences (BUITMS) team. An unfortunate own goal by AKU's Moiz Salahuddin in 24th minute was enough for BUITMS to battle out a narrow 1-0 win at the end.

The matches were supervised by Referees Naseer Ahmed, Khalid Mumtaz, Abdul Wahid, Javed Bangash, while Official Scorer was Sajjad Akbar and Match Commissioner was Munawar Khan.

On Friday, 8 April 2011, 3 more matches will be played in the tournament. At 2 PM, Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) will face BUITMS, IBA-Reserves face Institute of Business Management (IoBM) at 3 PM, while Hamdard University face LNMU at 5 PM

PFF announce format for 2011 National Challenge Cup

Lahore, 6 April : Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) has announced Competition System for the National Bank Football Cup to be played from 14-27 April 2011 at Faisalabad.

According to PFF Operation Cell, the Competition shall consist of two stages: Group Stage (league system) and Knock-out Stage (quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals)

The sixteen teams in Group Stage shall be divided into four groups of four teams each with three points will be awarded for a win, one point for a draw and zero point for a loss.

The Organizing Committee for 14-day show divide the teams into groups by drawing lots during 13th April Manager’s meeting at 5 PM, whilst taking sports, geographic and economic factors into consideration, as far as possible.

The teams in the four groups shall be designated as follows:

Group A : A1,A2,A3,A4
Group B : B1,B2,B3,B4
Group C : C1,C2,C3,C4
Group D : D1,D2,D3,D4

The following match sequence applies (the number designates the position drawn in each group on 15 April Meet) with matches to be held from 14 to 21 April 2011.

1st Match day: 1 v 2, 3 v 4
2nd Match day: 2 v 3, 1 v 4
3rd Match day: 1 v 3, 2 v 4

The teams ranked first and second in each group qualify for the quarter-finals and the eight teams that advance from the group stage shall contest quarter-finals on 22, 23 April as follows:

Winner A v Runner-up D (I)
Winner D v Runner-up A (II)
Winner B v Runner-up C (III)
Winner C v Runner-up B (III)

The four winners of the quarter-finals will qualify for the 25th April semi-finals as follows :

Winner I v Winner III (E)
Winner II v Winner IV (F)

The losers in Matches E and F will play bronze medal match on 26 April while the winner of Matches E & F will appear in 27th April Final.

Raiders Club to host D.G. Khan/Sahiwal tie in Punjab Games

Lahore, 6 April : DG Khan will take on Sahiwal at 8 AM and Multan will face Gujranwala at 3 PM when 71st Punjab Games Football Tournament will commence at Kotha Pind’s Raiders FC Ground, Faisal Town, Lahore on Thursday, 7 April 2011.

According to President of Lahore District Football Association Mian Rizwan Ali the initial matches of three-day football event allotted to Raiders FC Ground following a tremendous All Punjab Raiders Cup recently. However, the final and bronze medal decided will be staged at Model Town Football Academy Ground.

The 71st Punjab Games, after being postponed four times, have finally made it to the calendar .The general council of the Punjab Olympics Association (PbOA) finalised the dates of the Punjab Games while also announcing that the 32nd National Games 2012 will be held between October 21 to 27 next

The Punjab Olympic Association (POA) is organising the 71st Punjab Games Altogether nine regions of Punjab including Rawalpindi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Sahiwal, Bahawalpur, Gujranwala, Dera Ghazi Khan and Sargodha will participate in the games. Men will take part in 18 disciplines while women will display their talent in eight events.

Lahore has won the 70th Punjab Games in 2007 with 27 Gold, 34 Silver, 70 Bronze. Runners up were Faisalabad and Gujranwala achieved third position. Closing ceremony then was held in Punjab Stadium, in which Governor Punjab closed the games with the promise to get together once again to maintain the harmony and peaceful environment between all districts.

PFA President Muhammad Arshad Khan Lodhi will be chief guest on concluding day. "The friendly atmosphere prevailed throughout the duration of the Games, which will be inaugurated with the hopes of bringing the all districts of Punjab together. The districts share a common history and culture, with many people on every side of the districts related to one another." said Rizwan Ali

DRAWS OF PUNJAB GAMES FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT

7 April : DG Khan v Sahiwal (8 AM), Multan v Gujranwala (3 PM) at Raiders FC Ground

8 April : Lahore v Winner Multan/Gujranwala (8 AM), Faisalabad v DG Khan/Sahiwal (3 PM) at Raiders FC Ground

9 April : Bronze Medal Match (8 AM), Final (10 AM) at MTFA Ground

Butt upbeat ahead of WAPDA camp

KARACHI: WAPDA will begin preparations for their AFC President’s Cup campaign from Thursday as their players will start to gather for their training camp in Lahore on Wednesday (today).

WAPDA have been placed in Group C of Asia’s third-tier continental club competition which will be held from April 20-24 at the Dashrath Stadium in Kathmandu, Nepal.

But WAPDA’s pereparations have been hampered as they were expecting to play their group matches in May.

“We were expecting the slots in May, but the early schedule has put us in trouble,” WAPDA head coach Khalid Butt told ‘The News’ on Tuesday.

“We have invited 25 players to the camp which will begin with full force from Thursday (tomorrow).

“We have invited the best players and all are fit with the exception of experienced striker Arif Mehmood.

“Arif pulled his thigh muscles during Pakistanís engagement in the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers in Kuala Lumpur last month but I hope that he will soon be fit for the event as we direly need him.”

WAPDA will start their campaign against Nepal Police Club on April 20, followed by their game against Taiwan Power Company of Chinese Taipei on April 22 and Nebitchi FC of Turkmenistan on April 24.

The President’s Cup is contested by the league champions of AFC’s 12 developing members which have been bracketed in three groups. The top two teams from each group will make it to the six-team final round which will be conducted at a centralised venue.

Group A competition, carrying Kyrgyzstan’s Neftchi Kochkor-Ata, Bangladesh champions Abahani, Sri Lanka’s Don Bosco Sports Club and Cambodia’s Phnom Penh Crown FC, will be contested in Cambodia from May 21 to 25 while Group B matches, featuring defending champions Yadanarbon of Myanmar, debutants Jabal Al Mukaber Club of Palestine and Tajik club Istiklol and Bhutan’s Yeedzin FC, will be played from May 13 to 17 in Yangon Stadium in Myanmar.

WAPDA, which will leave for Nepal on April 18, have less than two weeks for preparations but their coach said that he has devised a tough training schedule which will help his team catch rhythm ahead of the event.

“Time is running out but I have planned to train the players twice a day. Though I would not like to put an extra burden on them but we will be able to do practice of twenty days in only ten days,” Butt said.

However, he said that the hectic exercise will require balanced nutrition for the players.

“The players will need quality diet during these days. I am going to meet with the WAPDA administration tomorrow and will discuss with them what assistance I will need for the players during the training tenure,” Butt said.

Butt, who created history when he took his side to the semifinals of the 2009 edition of the AFC Presidentís Cup, is confident that his team will produce a good result.

“Though Nebitchi FC from Turkmenistan is a tough team in our pool but we are capable to beat the other two sides in our group to move ahead,” Butt said.

Because of the senior team’s engagement in the Kathmandu event, WAPDA will field its Multan unit team in the National Football Challenge Cup slated to be held in Faisalabad from April 14 to 27

AKU Inter-University Football begins, 3 matches decided

The Aga Khan University Football Ground in Karachi hosted the inauguration and first three league games of the 9th AKU Inter-University Football Tournament 2011. Dr. K. M. Inam Pal, Associate Professor & Section Head, General Surgery, Department of Surgery, AKU along with Riaz Akbar Contractor (Chief Organizer & Manager, AKU Sports Centre), Zahid Taj, Munawar Khan, Qamar Ali, M. Nizam inaugurated the Tournament. The Teams and the officials were introduced to the Chief Guest who later kicked the ball and officially inaugurated the Tournament.

The AKU Inter-University Tournament is being held as round robin basis with an initial league group round, followed by a knock-out stage of quarters, semis, and the final.

In the first game, hosts Aga Khan University (AKU) beat the reserve team of Institute of Business Administration (IBA Reserves) 2-1. Karachi United star Rehan Munir, who is also a student at AKU, gave his team the lead after just 3 minutes played as AKU led 1-0 at half time. In 2nd half, IBA-Reserves' Rizwan Ahmed Khan equalised in 53rd minute but Omer Akhtar gave AKU the lead again with his goal in 63rd minute as the host maintained the lead to win the game at the end.

In the second game, Ziauddin University (ZU) beat Baqai Medical University (BMU) 2-1. BMU took an early lead when Attaullah scored in 3rd minute, but goals by Syed Ali Bazil (8') and Raza Naqvi (12') have ZU a 2-1 lead before half-time. The 2nd half saw the scoreline remain same as ZU also won their game 2-1 at the end.

In third game, PAF-KIET hammered Jinnah Medical and Dental College (JMDC) 5-1 thanks to a superb hat-trick by Waqar Hussain. JMDC took an early lead through Munsif Adil (5') but Waqar Hussain equalised in 10th minute as the game was 1-1 at half time. In 2nd half, PAF-KIET dominated the game as Waqar Hussain scored twice more in 71st and 72nd minutes to complete his hat-trick while fellow team-mates Waqas Ilyas (51') and Syed Danish Hasan Rizvi (53') also added goals early in the 2nd half as PAF-KIET ran away 5-1 winners at the end.

The matches were supervised by Referees Naseer Ahmed, Khalid Mumtaz, Abdul Wahid, Javed Bangash, Official Scorer Sajjad Akbar and Match Commissioners Munawar Khan.

Greenshirts to start 2014 preparations next month

KARACHI: Pakistan are more likely to start their preparatory campaign next month for the first round of the FIFA World Cup 2014 qualifiers against Bangladesh.

“I will soon meet the top officials of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) and will then chalk out a plan. But we would like to begin the preparation for the vital two-legged round against Bangladesh soon at the end of the National Challenge Cup which will conclude at the end of this month,” Pakistan’s head coach Tariq Lutfi told ‘The News’ here on Friday.

“This is the right time to give some good news to the nation and the way we have raised the team through preparation in the last two months, I am optimistic that we will beat Bangladesh in both the legs this time,” Lutfi, who replaced Akhtar Mohiuddin in January, said.

Both the teams will clash each other in the qualifiers on June 29 and July3 on home and away basis in a yet to be decided venues.

It will be the first meeting between the two nations since their goalless draw encounter of the SAFF Championship in December, 2009, when Austrian George Kottan was Pakistan’s coach.

The coach ruled out any drastic changes in the side recently played in the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers in Kuala Lumpur.

“There would be no such major changes in the lot already used this year in international circuit, but I will try to pick some more players, the fitter ones, for the camp during the National Challenge Cup,” Lutfi said.

Before fielding in the World Cup qualifiers against Bangladesh, besides the already scheduled couple of encounters against Palestine, Pakistan are also expected to play four or five matches against other nations.

“We believe that the team needs a lot of exposure but it is possible only if you have hefty amount in your purse. We are always short of funds but still we would like to see our team play more international matches before or after the Palestine trip against countries like Syria, Lebanon, Jordan etc,” the PFF President Faisal Saleh Hayat told ‘The News’ on Friday.

The PFF chief added that Pakistan direly need a foreign coach to raise the team further

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16 to take part in PFF Women Referee Consolidating Course 2011

                                    Robina Irfan with Tariq Lutfi and Sadia Sheikh during  

                                          Karachi's Pakistan-Palestine Match              

Lahore, 2 April: Zehra Abbas and Asifa Naheed Butt, the fourth officials during last two editions of National Women Championship at Jinnah Stadium, Islamabad, are among the 16 participants of PFF Women Referee Consolidating Course. The six-day Course will be held at FIFA House, Ferozpur Road, Lahore from 10-15 April 2011.

“Women’s football is arguably the fastest growing sport in Asia and it is high time women practitioners of the game received separate and suitable recognition - on par with the men. Gone are the days when the women’s version was considered a pale and inferior shadow of the men’s game in our continent. A time is not far way when a female referee will not only supervise the National event final but Pakistan will also provide a FIFA Female Referee, and coming Course will help PFF a lot in this scheme,” said newly-elected PFF Women Committee Chairperson Robina Irfan. She occupied the new role during 28th December 2010 PFF Congress after being successful Chairperson of PFF Women Wing from 17 December 2005 to 7 August 2010.

Mother of Shlyla Baloch who scored against Afghanistan in First Women SAFF Championship last year at Bangladesh, Robina called Pakistan Football Federation (PFF)’s President Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat's work on Women soccer is a milestone. “PFF has made great strides in women’s football due to dedication of PFF chief who is also AFC Legal Committee Chairman and AFC ExCo member. His decision to hire a full-time administrator dedicated to the women’s game has helped to open up competition and education doors for female footballers and officials in the country.”

The current set-up of Pakistan Football Federation met another milestone when FIFA gave inclusion to Pakistan Women football team in the FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking.”Under dynamic leadership of PFF President Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat, we have worked hard for seven years to build up women’s football and the appreciation from FIFA means very much to us and will inspire us to do even better, “ said Robina who added that Pakistan Women is in 121st spot, above 51 nations, in World Ranking after the list issued on 18 March 2011 with USA, Germany, Brazil on top three.

A big achievement for country launched female soccer only in 2005. The FIFA Women's World Rankings for football were introduced in March 2003, as a follow-on to the existing FIFA World Rankings for men. FIFA Women's World Rankings attempt to compare the strength of internationally active teams at any given time.

16 Participants of Women Referee Consolidating Course:

Lahore : Shumaila Sattar, Shakila Rehman, Asifa Naheed Butt
Karachi: Zehra Abbas, Kausar Habib, Surrayya, Suleha, Sudas, Urooj
Vehari : Fazilat Aslam, Saba Aziz, Shahida Kausar
Faisalabad: Nazia Sultana
Rawalpindi : Sehrish Tariq, Rabia Hameed
Peshawar: Ayesha Nisar

Tough assignments ahead for Pakistan football in 2011: PFF chief

LAHORE: Pakistan Football Federation (PFF)’s President Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat has said that the year 2011 is very important for him as Pakistan will compete in the qualifiers for the London Olympics and World Cup in the season.
“The year 2011 will see the high-profile FIFA and AFC events while the Pakistan national team will also appear in the 4th AFC Challenge Cup and the SAFF Championship besides AFC U-16, U-19, U-13 events and other international events,” he said after presiding over the Congress meeting here on Tuesday.
He said the launch of Vision Asia was a milestone in the country’s football history. “We have made significant progress in the promotion and development of football in Pakistan and are optimistic about it gaining more popularity in the coming years,” he said.
The football chief added that the Congress also approved PFF’s calendar of activities for 2011 which would cost Rs50.5 million.
He congratulated Wapda for winning the Pakistan Premier Football League this year, to earn a place in the 7th AFC President’s Cup.
He also praised the performance of the Young Rising Stars Club for lifting the national women’s title.
The Congress also gave approval for district, provincial, PFF elections, which are to be held in 2011.
The final elections’ list and the appointment of regional and provincial election commissioners were approved by the full house unanimously.
The Congress also carried out elections for the women’s committee. The two Congress members Robina Irfan and Frashta Ali Shrafi were elected the chairperson and vice chairperson, respectively, while Najma Naz from Khyber Pashtunkhwa, Kiran Ilyas from Punjab and Mejzgaan Orakzai from Islamabad were elected as members.
Among the other decisions taken on the day, permanent memberships were given to Islamabad Football Association, Afghan FC Chaman, PMC Atheltco Faisalabad, Young Rising Star Women Club Rawalpindi and Diya Women Football Club Karachi increasing the PFF Congress strength to 29.
Meanwhile, minutes of the last Congress held in August were approved along with the calendar of activities for 2011 within the approximate budget of Rs55 million, approval of financial statement of June-December 2010.
The coaches’ reports of National U-23 team in the Asian Games and the national women team were also presented and reviewed.
The Congress gave its approval for the district and provincial elections in 2011. The final election list and the appointment of regional and provincial election commissioners were also approved by the house.
The Congress members were also informed that the Australian High Commissioner Timothy George had donated 18,000 Australian dollars as the sports development grant to the PFF.
During the meeting, the PFF made several amendments in the constitution on the instructions of Vision Asia team as laid down in FIFA, AFC.
Earlier, the PFF Executive Committee, chaired by the PFF President Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat, announced that the Korean Football Association has given US$400,000 to the PFF for the construction of the nine goal projects in Pakistan, about which it was hoped that they would be completed by March 2011.
The federation’s big challenges in 2011 include the Pakistan team’s visit to Thailand for three weeks in preparation of the Olympics qualifiers.
They would also play against Malaysia on a home-and-away basis with a similar event with Palestine both in February/March.
In August the Pakistan team will visit Korea for three to four weeks to play matches against the top clubs there.
On the domestic front, the PFF will organise an U-14 event in Lyari in January 2011.
Faisal Saleh Hayat thanked the Australian High Commissioner for development of the game in Lyari and Gilgit while also appreciating the efforts of the PFF marketing department who had donated 18,000 US dollars for the development of the game in the country.
The Executive Committee meeting concluded by extending congratulations to the three members of the football family for receiving medals from the AFC for their contributions for the football in Pakistan.
Sindh Football Association (SFA) President Abbas Baloch received a gold medal, Saeed Khan a silver medal and Ghayas Baloch of Rawalpindi’s Young Rising Star Women’s Football Club a bronze medal.

Pakistani booters will appear in UAE’s World Cup U17 Qualifier

Lahore, 30 March: Pakistan will make attempt to earn slot in UAE's 15th World U17 Cup 2013 when they will face Asian teams in 15th AFC U16 Championship this year. The players born on or after 1 January 1996 will be eligible to play in the event, slated to run from 10-25 September 2011. North Korea will defend title in Asian Youth beating Uzbekistan 2-0 in last edition final on 7 November 2010 at Pakhtakor Stadium, Tashkent 

Pakistan Football Federation (PFF)'s President Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat has asked Operation Wing to call as many teams as they could from 8th National U16 Championship (1-15 May) to get the abundance of talented players of required age-limit for coming 15th AFC U16 Championship. 

The AFC U16 Championship has been the launching pad for many of football' present stars including Muhammad Ahmed, Abbas Ali, Ahsan Ullah, Fahad Ullah Khan who joined National team after playing in 2005 edition. The 2007 edition produced players like Faisal Iqbal, Muhammad Adil, Saqib Hanif while KPT’s first choice keeper Ehsan Ullah for PPFL is product of 2009 edition. 

The AFC U16 show - which is held every two years - also acts as a qualifying tournament for the FIFA U17 World Cup at which the Asia is given four berths. Founded as the FIFA U16 World Championship, later changed to the FIFA U17 World Championship and known by its current name since 2007, is the world championship for male players under the age of 17 organized by Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). In the 13 tournaments held so far, Brazil and Nigeria are the most successful nations in the tournament's history with three wins each. Ghana has won the tournament twice. Soviet Union, Saudi Arabia, France, Mexico, Switzerland won the title once. 

With the late inclusion of Cambodia, total 40 teams have entered the fray for 15th AFC U16 Championship and have been divided into two zones – West (22) and East (18). 

The teams will be divided into seven groups of six and five teams each. West Zone will have two groups of six and two of five teams while East will have three groups of six teams each. Top two teams from each of the groups and third best team from West and East zones will qualify for the tournament proper. 

TEAMS AND ZONES 

West by ranking
1. Uzbekistan, 2. UAE, 3. Syria, 4. Iraq, 5. Iran, 6. Kuwait, 7. Tajikistan, 8. Oman, 9. Saudi Arabia, 10. Bahrain, 11. Yemen, 12. Bangladesh, 13. Qatar, 14. Nepal, 15. Kyrgyzstan, 16. Pakistan, 17. India, 18. Afghanistan, 19. Lebanon, 20. Palestine, 21. Maldives, 22. Sri Lanka. 

East by ranking
1. DPR Korea, 2. Australia, 3. Japan, 4. Indonesia, 5. Vietnam, 6. China, 7. Timor Leste, 8. Chinese Taipei, 9. Thailand, 10. Laos, 11. Hong Kong, 12. Singapore, 13. Korea Republic, 14. Myanmar, 15. Malaysia, 16. Guam, 17. Cambodia, 18. Macau.