FIFA World Cup Pre-Qualifing Round 2014

Palestine returns friendly series with Palestine National team to be played at Ramallah and Hebron 
– Palestine from 24 to 30th May 2011. 

First match on May 24th on Faisal Al-Hussain International Stadium. (Ramallah) 

Second Match on May 26th Al-Hussein Stadium, Hebron 

For Training Camp National Coach Mr. Tariq Lutfi has Selected 42 players for Palestine tour and 
World Cup pre-Qualifying round against Bangladesh on 29th June at Dhaka Bangladesh and on 
3rd July, 2011 at Lahore Pakistan . Training camp will be starting from 6th May 2011 at Lahore. 

PAF Dominate First Session : Thrash HBL 3-0

Lahore, 14 April: PAF opened their onslaught with 3-0 win over HBL in the Opener of 21st National Bank Football Cup will commence on Thursday, 14 April at Bohranwali Ground, situated on Club Road, near Bagh-i-Jinnah Thursday. It was the clash between two former National Champions of 80s, Pakistan Air Force and Habib Bank Limited that yielded all theee goals in the first session. HBL failed to create any impression. It was Group B clash where other two teams are holders Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) and first timer Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) 

PAF completely dominated the first session and their repeated attacks allowed them the opener in the 24th minute when midfielder Muhammad Arif Nawaz steered the ball inti net from close range. Nawaz is the player from Toba Tek Singh while Kohat-born Amir Khan gave tense moments to bankers with the second in the 30th minute. It was all over when Shahkot-born Irfan Ali hit the back of the net in the 36th minute. 

Earlier the event was inaugurated by Khawaja Shahid Razzak Sikha, President, Anjuman Tajiran, Faisalabad. 

Friday (15 April) Fixture: PIA v Pakistan Television (Bohranwali Ground 2 PM), ZTBL v KRL (PMC Ground 2 PM), KPT v Police (PMC Ground 4 PM

King Baloch win Nawabshah Championship

The King Baloch Nawabshah Football League Championship final was won by host side King Baloch FC when they beat King Baloch Green on penalties after 2-2 score at end of regulation time at King Baloch Football Ground at Sangarh Road, Nawabshah in front of a large crowd.

The event was organised by King Baloch FC (Marium Road, Old Nawabshah) President Faiz Muhammad Baloch, who created 6 teams from his side in King Baloch, King Baloch Greedm, White, Red, Yellow, and Blue to take part in this tournament on single-league format. The final was played between King Baloch and King Baloch Green. Referee was Abdul Latif Baloch with assistants Yaqoob Brohi and Rohiat Sheikh.

Ahmed Brohi gave King Baloch a 2nd minute lead but Nauman equalised for KB Green in 40th minute. In 2nd half, Nauman gave KB Green a 2-1 lead but a minute before the Shehryar equalised for King Baloch to tie the game, forcing a penalty shootout. King Baloch won the shootout 5-4 to be awarded the winners' trophy. Amjad, Ejaz, Farhan, Faiz, and Akbar coverted their tries for winners, but only Shehryar, Nauman, Rehan, and Shoaib managed to convert for KB Green while Arbaz missed his attempt.

The final was attended by many football personalities of the area. Master Riasat Ali was chief guest alongside Faiz Muhammad Baloch, Abdul Sattar Baloch, Murad Baloch, Ustad Mehmood Ali Brohi, Zahid Afridi, etc. Master Riasat Ali spoke on the occasion, praising the organisation of such a tournament to help boost football's profile in Nawabshah.

Karachi Zone West suspends 3 players for bad conduct

Karachi Zone West FA general secretary Rahim Bakhsh ordered strict suspensions on 3 players affiliated with Zone West for consistently showing bad conduct, rough play, and poor discipline in many tournaments played across Karachi in recent times.
Young Ansari FC's star striker Abdul Hameed Afridi was given a 6 month ban scheduled to run from 10 April to 10 October 2011. Malik Star FC's Shabir and Shabaz Green's Rahim Gul were both given 3 month bans each from 10 April to 10 July 2011.

Hameed Afridi's red card suspensions during the 8th Karachi Football League 2010-11 badly affected Young Ansari's chances of making the final. Hameed was top scorer of the tournament but his team failed to make the final in the end. His red card offences in other tournaments also forced Zone West to take drastic action.

All three players have been ordered to stay away from football activties for their ban periods as punishment. The clubs and players have been directed to strictly follow the decision of Zone West FA otherwise the penalties will be increased.

Lahore participants most in PFF Women Referee Courses

Lahore, 11 April: Lahore get lion's share of attention as seven of the Pakistan’s second biggest city girls viz Laila Zafar, Saiqah Waris, Fehmida Ayub, Shazia Ramzan, Sabiha Khalil, Saima Majeed and Bushra Khanam are among the 14 participants of PFF Women Referee Consolidating Course. The six-day Course commenced at FIFA House, Ferozpur Road, Lahore today and will conclude on 15 April 2011.

According to PFF Women Administrator and Course Coordinator Neha Zia, participants from Lahore, Vehari, Rawalpindi, Khybar Pakhtunkhawa and Bahawlpur will learn under Referees Manager Qazi Mohammad Asif and Instructors Salah Uddin Awan and Arif Siddqui. The Course have been designed under directives of Pakistan Football Federation (PFF)’s President Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat to reinforce contacts between Pakistan football’s governing body and women referees at a time when women’s football is developing at a rapid pace.

“In organising this course, PFF is offering women referees the opportunity for expert instruction in the laws of the game and physical preparation, which should enable them to further improve their performance.”

“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 ongoing Course will help PFF a lot in this scheme,” added 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.

The current PFF set-up 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 Chief, 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.

“The standard of women’s football is progressing extremely rapidly in PFF,” Neha added, “and referees must be ready to face the challenge presented by a game which is more technical, quicker and more hard-fought on the field.The 14 participants will undergo a fitness test and take part in a training programme at Punjab Stadium, and discuss a series of important topics relating to the laws of the game.”

“Criteria will be issued to help the referees take decisions in certain key situations, such as for tackles and their consequences, and when a goal-scoring opportunity is denied. Discussions will also centre on how referees should act in the case of players who are in an offside position, but who are involved in active play.” concluded Neha.

14 Participants of Women Referee Consolidating Course

Lahore: Laila Zafar, Saiqah Waris, Fehmida Ayub, Shazia Ramzan, Sabiha Khalil, Saima Majeed, Bushra Khanam

Vehari: Huma Shehzadi

Rawalpindi: Sehrish Tariq, Rabia Hameed

Khyber Pakhtunkhawa: Salma Faiz, Shaista Kanwal

Bahawalpur: Shaista Jabeen, Huma Bilal

AKU Championship: NED, Ziauddin, Hamdard, MAJU record wins

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 5 games in Day 7 of its competition on Sunday, 10 April 2011.

In Group 'C', IBA United held Sir Syed University of Engineering & Technology (SSUET) 1-1. After a goal-less first half, Hunbal bin Sohail gave IBA United the lead in 45th minute, which Kamran Aslam of SSUET equalised barely 4 minutes later. Both sides earned 1 point each with the scores remaining tied at the end.

In Group 'D', Ziauddin University (ZU) romped to a 7-0 win over Liaquat National Medical College (LNMC). ZU's main star was Shoaib Ahmed who scored a brilliant hat-trick (1', 34', 37') to register the eighth hat-trick of the on-going tournament. Talha Chaudhry (33' and 35'), Syed Ali Bazil (1') and Asad Sheikh (36') also scored for ZU in the game.

Another Group 'D' encounter saw Hamdard University (HU) beat PNEC-NUST 3-1. Yasir Lashkari gave Hamdard the lead after just 1 minute, with Sir Syed scoring Hamdard's second just a minute after Yasir's goal. The score was 2-0 in HU's favour at half time. Shazi Tahir managed to score for PNEC-NUST in 38th minute but Yasir Lashkari scored his second of the game in 43rd minute that made Hamdard win 3-1 at the end.

In Group 'A', Muhammad Ali Jinnah University (MAJU) scored a 2-0 win over Jinnah Medical & Dental College (JMDC) after 0-0 score at half time. Hamza Ahmed scored both the goals for MAJU in 50th and 54th minutes.

In the other Group 'A' clash, defending champions NED University scored an easy 6-0 win over PAF-KIET as they continued their great form in the competition. Areeb Ali (3' and 24'), Rafay Fahim (8'), Jaleed Aslam (7') and Khurram Shakeel (26') gave NED an imposing 5-0 lead at half time. Rafay Fahim scored his second of the game in 2nd half (42') to complete the easy 6-0 scoreline for NED.

The matches were supervised by Referees Naseer Umar, Khalid Mumtaz, M. Yousuf, and Imran Hussain, with Official Scorer Sajjad Akbar and Match Commissioners Munawar Khan and Qamar Ali.

NBP Fooball Cup to start next week

KARACHI: National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) Football Cup 2011, formerly known as National Challenge Cup, will be held at two different venues in Faisalabad from April 14 to 27 as the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) announced draws on Friday for the 16-team extravaganza.

This is the second major spectacle in the domestic slots after the Pakistan Premier League which takes centre stage with a bulky flux of encounters. As per draws, the sixteen teams have been placed in four different groups. Group A carries WAPDA, Navy, National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and Ashraf Sugar Mills while Group B contains KRL, PAF, HBL and ZTBL. PIA, KPT, Police and PTV have been adjusted in Group C while KESC, Army, Railways, and PMC have been bracketed in Group D.

The event will be held on round robin and the two leading teams of each group after group stage competition will move into the quarter-finals which will be held from April 21 to 23. The semifinals will be conducted on April 24 and 25 while the final will be held on April 27. The match for the third place will be held on April 26.

The event will be held at the Bohranwali Ground Club Road Jinnah Bagh and the PMC Football Ground simultaneously. The matches will start at 2:00pm and 4:00pm respectively.

One of the prime clubs of the country Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) will defend the title and Pakistan head coach Tariq Lutfi, who has joined KRL only few days back as head coach cum consultant after getting retirement from PIA, will serve as head coach of the defending champions.

The national champions WAPDA will field their second string in the competition as their senior team will leave for Kathmandu on April 18 to feature in the AFC President’s Cup Group C slots at the Dashrath Stadium from April 20 to 24.

Hosts Punjab Medical College (PMC) will be coached by former Pakistan coach Akhtar Mohiuddin who joined it more recently.

Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Essa, who will reach Faisalabad from his hometown in Chaman on April 13, will lead KESC while another former Pakistan captain and experienced gloveman Jaffar Khan will lead former national champions Army during the tournament.

Six current FIFA referees, two former FIFA referees and eleven national and local referees will supervise the spectacle.

Fixtures: April 14: PAF v HBL. April 15: ZTBL v KRL, KPT v Police, PTV v PIA. April 16: WAPDA v Ashraf Sugar Mills, Bahawalpur, Navy v NBP, KESC v PMC, Army v Railways.

Faisalabad retain Punjab Games title

Lahore, 9 April: Holders Faisalabad staged recovery to beat Lahore 2-1 in the final of 71st Punjab Games Football Tournament at Kotha Pind’s Raiders FC Ground, Faisal Town, Lahore on Saturday morning. It was second consecutive win for Faisalabad in the event. They also defeated the same rival in the final at Model Town Football Academy Ground, Lahore four years ago.

According to President of Lahore District Football Association Mian Rizwan Ali all the seven matches of three-day football event were allotted to Raiders FC Ground at Kotha Pind, Faisal Town, Lahore following a tremendous All Punjab Raiders Cup recently.

The three goals of the final were recoded in the first half while second session remained barren. Imtiaz coached-Faisalabad conceded 28th minute goal when Lahore’s striker Fahad Tariq punished keeper blunder but they drew level through penalty kick in the 35th minute converted by midfielder Basit Naeem. Five minutes Sahiwal outkicked Multan 4-3 on penalties to win bronze medals. 

The final was supervised, under Match Commissioner Chaudhry Abdul Rasheed, by Afzal Bari, supported by Irfan Aslam, Mehr Shabbir and 4th Official Muhammad Anwar.

Punjab Olympic Association (POA) organised Games participated by nine regions of Punjab including Rawalpindi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Sahiwal, Bahawalpur, Gujranwala, Dera Ghazi Khan and Sargodha.

"The friendly atmosphere prevailed throughout the duration of the Games, which is concluded 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. Earlier in semi-finals, Lahore beat Multan 4-2 and Faisalabad overran Sahiwal 2-1

Full Results

7 April: Multan 1 Gujranwala 0, Sahiwal 1 Dera Ghazi Khan 0, Faisalabad 3 Sargodha 2
8 April: ( semi-finals) Lahore 4 Multan 2, Faisalabad 2 Sahiwal 1
9 April: Final : Faisalabad 2 Lahore 1 ¾ : Multan 1 Sahiwal 1 ( Sahiwal won 4-3 on PSO)

PEL’s Asghar shows guts as Pakistan football talent hunter

Lahore, 8 April: Pak Elektron Limited (PEL), who will play their fourth season in Pakistan Premier League 2011 from June, contributed a number of players to the Pakistan football team, including Muhammad Adil, Alamgir Khan, Ehsan Ullah who represented Pakistan in 4th AFC Challenge Cup last month, and Asian Star Safi Ullah. Besides appearance in Pakistan Premier Football League from 2008 to 2010, Lahore-based PEL actually created a nursery for the Pakistan football taking over the responsibility from Crescent Textile Mills’s Allah Dita Awan who was known for digging out players from villages and far-flung areas.

The man behind the scene of PEL fine work is Asghar Khan Anjum, a qualified coach who assisted George Kottan in SAFF Championship 2009 and played again European team Moldova in his playing days. Rahim Yar Khan-born Asghar talent-hunted several stars on Pakistan soil and all the PPFL teams are now filled with the players produced by Asghar in his all out spell.

PEL’s former Safi Ullah Khan became only player in Pakistan soccer history to score four goals in an international fixture and rose further into limelight when he finished as leading marksmen of third AFC Challenge Cup Qualifier 2009. Muhammad Tauseef Ahmed, who struck a goal against Palestine in Lahore Test recently also emerged from PEL. Goal keeper Saqib Hanif, midfielder Waheed Hameed who helped PEL in snatching tenth spot in PPFL 2010, will now play for Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited in coming 21st National Bank Cup (NFCC) at Faisalabad. In the same way, PEL’s leading scorer Saad Ullah in PPFL 2010 will represent titleist KRL in coming NFCC.

“When it comes to producing star booters, PEL is clearly at the top. It is clearly the soccer nursery and players from this organization went on to wear national color. PEL is known for producing a tremendous quantity of fine footballers and one can judge also that PEL’s former players Rahim and Shahid Ali are now central defenders of former National and NFCC Champion HBL. But talent alone is not enough to become an outstanding player, as extraordinary levels of preparation and development are also needed. The infrastructure, facilities of sports were utilized under tremendous vision of Asghar Anjum,”said PEL’s Director Operation Murad Saigol “Of course PEL offers its own football school,”

Murad believes the man from Rahim Yar Khan will remain a huge success at PEL. He is a elegant coach with immense visualization of talent hunting and one of the most exciting young coaches in Pakistan presently. His style and ability will give any team a different dimension and I’m sure he will be a popular with the team and fans in future too.”

“We need to keep developing our game and our players.” That was the vision, thinking of Pakistan Football Federation (PFF)’s President Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat right from 2003 and a year later he created the PPFL that broaden the pool of top Pakistani footballers. Tasked with developing the football in efficient, long and short term strategy throughout the whole country, his steps meet successes, and the team that provided more and more players regularly to PFF and Pakistan is PEL who joined Faisal-led country’s ruling body in top ranked event in 2008, after winning PFF League 2007.

The 23 players produced under PEL’s coach Asghar Anjum and now attending other organizations are Aqeel Ahmed, Kamran (Railways), Tauseef Ahmed, Basit Ghafoor, Haider Ali (WAPDA), Jalil Ahmed, Safi Ullah Khan, Abid Ghafoor, Muhammad Adil, Muhammad Bilawal, Ehsan Ullah, Jahanzeb, Saad Ullah (KRL), Rahim, Shahid Ali (HBL), Saqib Hanif, Waheed Hameed ( ZTBL), Ali Raza (PMC Athletico), Asad Ullah, Alamgir Khan (Police), Muhammad Sher, Muhammad Bilal, Muhammad Usman (PAF).

AKU Inter-University Football: NED hammer MAJU 12-1

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 4 of its competition on 7 April 2011.

In Group 'C', the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science & Technology (SZABIST) overcame Sir Syed University of Engineering & Technology (SSUET) in a tight afair 1-0. Waleed Rashid's 49th minute goal proved to be enough for SZABIST as they maintained their positive start to the AKU Championship.

In Group 'D', Ziauddin University (ZU) had to fight hard against Hamdard University (HU) to win the game 3-2 at the end in an entertaining affair. Shoaib Ahmed gave ZU the lead after just 4 minutes, but HU's Sir Syed equalised in 13th minute. However, Shehzad Afzal gave Hamdard a 2-1 lead in 24th minute as the scorelines remained in favour of HU at half time. Second half saw Ziauddin fight back with Talha Chaudhry making it 2-2 in 59th minute before Shoaib Ahmed scored his second of the game to make it 3-2 in 63rd minute. The scores remained same at the end to give ZU a vital win.

Perhaps the most stunning result of the day was defending champions NED University's 12-1 demolition of Muhammad Ali Jinnah University (MAJU) in Group 'A'. A devastating four-goal burst each from Umer Mumtaz (4', 23', 26', 55') and Areeb Ali (60', 62', 64', 65') stunned MAJU who had taken an early lead through Khalil Ahmed after just 3 minutes. Further goals from Rafay Fahim (19'), Danish Ali (49'), Khizer Khan (71'), and Jaleed Aslam (68') completed the record-breaking 12-1 rout in favour of NED at the end.

The matches were supervised by Referees Naseer Ahmed, Khalid Mumtaz, Abdul Wahid, and Shaukat Ali, with Official Scorer Sajjad Akbar and Match Commissioner Munawar Khan.

On Saturday (9 April 2011), four matches will take place. NED University face JMDC at 12:30 PM, BMU face PNEC-NUST at 2 PM, SZABIST face IBA United at 3:30 PM, and hosts AKU face DUHS at 5 PM.