Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) normalization committee (NC) chairperson Haroon Malik has announced that a country-wide intra-district football championship has started.
In a podcast with ProSports, Malik revealed PFF has started an intra-district championship out of which winners will come out in due course.
These teams will then be transitioned into the Haroon Malik-favored ‘Conference Model’ which is prevalent in North America and is viable for places where teams are geographically far away from one another. Malik said that there are a total of 170-odd districts in Pakistan, out of which 4 don’t have a football club.
Malik also highlighted that a ‘Challenge Cup’ has begun for departmental football teams. Malik said that the departments have played a crucial role in churning out players for Pakistan, so their elimination isn’t the way forward. He said that the departments will play a separate tournament, while the intra-district championship will culminate into a different league.
The national football side is set to play Saudi Arabia on 16th November 2023 at Al-Fateh Stadium, Al-Hasa City. This match will be Pakistan’s debut in the 2nd round of 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. A moment of happiness as this is the first time Pakistan has reached the 2nd round.
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