KARACHI: Fresh on the heels of seeing their captain Maria Khan snapped up by Saudi Arabian side Eastern Flames, the other members of Pakistan’s women football team will get a chance to showcase their skills when the side takes part in a six-nation tournament in the Kingdom next month.

Maria joined Eastern Flames as the club’s first foreign acquisition of the upcoming Saudi Women’s Premier League season earlier this month, having impressed during Pakistan’s last visit to Saudi Arabia for a four-nation tournament in January when they finished runners-up.

Now, her Pakistan team-mates have a chance to get noticed after the Pakistan Football Federation Normalisation Committee on Monday confirmed the team’s participation in the six-nation event from Sept 18 to 30, which features the hosts, Lebanon, Laos, Malaysia and Bhutan.

“A training camp to prepare the team will soon be announced,” the PFF NC said in a statement.

Saudi Arabia has increased its investments in the sport and has made significant strides in uplifiting the women’s game. They include the establishment of the Women’s Premier League, Women’s First Division League and the development of various national teams.

“When it comes to women’s football in Saudi Arabia, we are breaking records,” Saudi Arabian Football Federation’s first-ever female vice-president Lamia Bahian said last week at FIFA’s Women’s Football Convention in Sydney, on the eve of the Women’s World Cup final.

“Each step we take is a historic one, breaking down barriers and forging a new era for women’s football on our terms. While we may be at a different stage in our football journey, we are happy and proud of our everyday progress.”

In contrast, women’s football in Pakistan remains in the doldrums domestically. Despite the attention paid to the national team, there have been no domestic competitions for women since the national women’s championship was suspended in 2021 after the FIFA-appointed NC was forced out of office after a takeover of the PFF headquarters.

It saw Pakistan endure a 15-month FIFA suspension until the NC was restored and the national women’s team was the first to take to the pitch at the SAFF Women’s Championship once the ban was lifted in June last year.

Published in The Daily National Courier, August, 23 2023

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