Women Football Championship: Prizes up for grabs as event kicks off

Women’s nation­al champi­onship gets underw­ay today in Islama­bad.

KARACHI: The 16-team 8th National Women Football Championship will kick off today, carrying a winning purse of Rs300,000 at the Jinnah Stadium in Islamabad as the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) continue to invest substantially in domestic tournaments.

The teams have been divided in four groups as Wapda, Punjab, The City School Karachi and Balochistan complete Group A, while Army, Sindh, AJK and School of Economics form another pool.

In Group C, HEC will take on Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Islamabad and Young Rising Rawalpindi. Diya Women Football Club Karachi, Balochistan, Fata and Vehari Football Club are placed in Group D.

The runners-up will receive Rs200,000 while the third-placed team will earn Rs150,000.

The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) has also introduced a Fair Play trophy that carries a prize of Rs40,000, while similar cash awards will also be given to best goal-keeper, best player and top-scorer of the championship. The match bonus system has also been introduced, which would help teams collect some financial awards as the winners will get Rs10,000 in each match, while runners-up will receive half of that amount. In case of a draw, the cash will be divided in half.

The amount per match increases in the knockouts — in the quarter-final stage (Rs20,000) and semi-finals (Rs25,000).

Published in The Express Tribune, September 28^th, 2012.