Balochistan Cup: Football comes to Pishin after four years

Stakeholders laud PPL’s efforts; believe event crucial for development of sport

KARACHI: National footballer Saadullah has lauded Pakistan Petroleum Limited’s (PPL) initiative of holding the inaugural Balochistan Football Cup, an inter-district and inter-city championship, from July 26 and end Pishin district’s four-year-long wait for a football tournament.

Saadullah, who has been a regular in the national team and also played for Maldives’ BG Sports, revealed that football is Balochistan’s most widely-played sport, but is also the most neglected one.

“Football is a religion in Balochistan; and it’s the most natural choice for us. I’m happy that the PPL is organising an event here,” Saadudllah told The Express Tribune. “It’s big because in Pishin, my home town, we haven’t had any district tournaments in the last four years. Same is the case in Loralai, while in Chaman, which constantly churns out amazing talent, it has been a decade since they had a proper district championship.”



The 22-year-old is of the opinion that district-level and inter-city events are essential for the youth in Balochistan and provide them with a platform to showcase their talents.

He then recalled that he also competed at the district tournaments first before getting noticed for the provincial side when he was a teenager.

The PPL Balochistan Cup is going to feature 32 district teams from six divisions, including Quetta, Kalat, Makran, Sibi, Zhob, and Naseerabad.



These divisions encompass areas like Chagi, Mustang, Khuzdar, Turbat, Panjgoor, Dera Bugti, Harnai, Kohlu, Qilla Saifullah, Jhal Magsi among others.

A total of 512 players and 90 officials will be involved.

Once the qualifying rounds are out of the way, the top teams will compete in the final round starting on August 7.



Meanwhile, former Pakistan skipper Essa Khan, who is also the ambassador for the tournament, has said that the initiative will give local youth a chance to experience a big tournament. He further said that PPL intends to hold more such events in the future, and urged the sponsors to focus on the development of the sport at grass-roots level.

Essa also thanked PPL director Syed Wamiq Bokhari for taking interest in Balochistan and approving a budget of Rs12 million for the event.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 4^th, 2016.

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