Pakistan’s oldest cup competition National Challenge Cup which has been ongoing since 1979, will commence on May 1 at the Jinnah Stadium, this will be the 30th edition of the competition.
National Challenge Cup will begin its competition from the group stage once again, even though last year in January the competition completed its group stage.
However, to ensure at least three games for all football clubs and departments in the competition the group stage will be held again in the training ground of Jinnah Stadium while the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals will take place within the stadium itself.
A total of 16 teams will participate in the competition with four teams in each group and the top two teams will progress to the quarterfinals from each group.
PFF NC announced earlier this month that the National Challenge Cup will be held from May 1 to May 12, to ensure the resumption of the competition they invited all the clubs and departments to play in the tournament.
All football departments of Pakistan wanted NC to alter the dates so that their players could get the time to set a proper training camp. In the wake of this, all the departments requested NC to delay the competition by at least 15 days.
The delay of 15 months in the National Challenge Cup is a poignant reminder of the state of football affairs in Pakistan and why the whole domestic football structure needs a complete revamp after the PFF elections.
