PFF aims to host National Challenge Cup in October

Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) is mulling an option to hold its premier domestic tournament, the National Challenge Cup, between October 15 to 30, a PFF official told Nukta.

"We aim to conclude the tournament by October 30 as Pakistan will also begin preparations for the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers home fixture against Syria scheduled for November 18 at the Jinnah Stadium Islamabad," the official said.

On October 9 and 14 Pakistan senior team will also play against Afghanistan in their home and away matches respectively in the Asian Cup Qualifiers and so in this timeframe the domestic event is not possible.

A circular will soon be issued to all participating units, allowing them to confirm their entries and begin preparations for what is considered one of the country’s most important football events.

WAPDA will enter the tournament as defending champions having edged SA Gardens 1-0 in the final of the last edition held during 2022–2023 at the Jinnah Stadium Islamabad.

It remains to be seen how many departmental teams, many of which have been inactive in recent years due to the unstable football landscape, will reactivate their squads for the event or not.

Over the past decade football in Pakistan has suffered significantly at both the domestic and international levels due to internal conflicts and administrative rifts. Even during the five-year tenure of the FIFA-appointed Normalization Committee domestic competitions remained scarce adversely affecting a whole generation of local talent. As a result, national squads were often built around foreign-based players.

Currently, WAPDA, KRL and the armed forces are among major football teams which are active. Meanwhile departments such as National Bank, PIA, K-Electric, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), SSGC, SNGPL and KPT now have an opportunity to revive their football teams particularly with a more structured and consistent domestic calendar being implemented.

The Prime Minister of Pakistan has already directed all departments to reopen their sports teams. It will be noteworthy to observe how these entities respond to the PFF’s circular regarding the National Challenge Cup.

The National Challenge Cup is regarded as Pakistan’s second-most prestigious football tournament after the Pakistan Premier League which the PFF also plans to relaunch later this year or early next year.

During the last decade only once, in 2018-2019, Premier League was conducted and that too under two different federations.

Multan has emerged as a leading center to host the Challenge Cup. The city is known for its passionate football following and with pleasant weather expected in October organizers are hopeful of a successful event.

“The weather will be favorable and we are confident it will be a good tournament as crowd comes to witness football matches in Multan,” the PFF official added.

The event will also serve as a key scouting ground for newly appointed national head coach Nolberto Solano, who is looking to identify local talent for future national assignments.

Solano has arrived in Pakistan to lead the Under-23 national team during the AFC U-23 Asian Cup Qualifiers scheduled in Cambodia from September 3–9. The training camp, initially set in Abbottabad, has been shifted to Islamabad due to heavy rains. Solano is expected to join the squad in the federal capital today.