After a three-year break in football activities, this tournament has given hope to Pakistan’s fans…
The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) stopped its activities in June 2015 after a dispute arose between the federation and government officials when the latter tried to forcefully take control of the PFF office. In the last quarter of 2017, FIFA decided to ban Pakistan from participating in any official competitions as the government’s interference constituted a breach of conduct.
For the last three years, there were no domestic or international football activities – which devastated fans and more importantly, left Pakistani footballers jobless. In March 2018, after the LHC upheld the controversial election, the PFF board was reinstated and the ban was finally lifted by FIFA. After his return to office, the federation’s president, Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat, announced various projects and vowed to cover up the losses incurred to the game. The first major tournament to return was the National Challenge Cup, which is the country’s own version of the FA Cup.
On 21st April 2018, the tournament kicked off with 24 teams from all over Pakistan, including KRL FC, KE FC, PAF FC, PPL FC, and Karachi United FC – creating an extremely diverse range of both departmental and private football clubs. All Brother Football Stadium and KPT Football Stadium were the venues chosen for the teams to compete in. The teams were divided into eight groups, comprising of three teams in each group – with the winner of each group qualifying for the quarter-finals.
There were quite a few upsets and unexpected results in the group stage as the reigning champions of the Pakistan Premier Football League, Karachi Electric FC, were knocked out of the group stage when they lost and drew against SNGPL FC and ASM FC respectively. KE FC failed to score a single goal in either of their matches.
PAF celebrating their second National Challenge Cup win at final whistle at KPT Stadium in Karachi. pic.twitter.com/8RoPPnDd36
— FootballPakistan.com (FPDC) (@FootballPak) May 10, 2018
Another surprise came in the group stage when KRL FC, the most successful team in Pakistani football for the past decade, failed to go through to the last 8 of the tournament. Having won their first match with a convincing margin of 3-0 against SGP FC, they lost their second match against PCCA FC 1-0.
The first round concluded on 2nd May 2018 with Asia Ghee Mills FC, PPL FC, Navy FC, WAPDA FC, PAF FC, Army FC, PCCA FC, and Ashraf Sugar Mills FC making it to the next stage of the competition. PPL FC ousted Ashraf Sugar Mills 3-0, while WAPDA FC scored two goals in added time against against Navy FC to book a place in the semis. Elsewhere, PCCA FC won 2-1 against Asia Ghee Mills and PAF FC managed to win 4-2 against Army FC after both teams had failed to score in regulation time.
PPL FC and WAPDA FC played the first semi-final on 7th May 2018, and it was won comfortably by WAPDA FC as they saw off their opposition with a 2-0 scoreline. The following day, PAF FC and PCCA FC faced off in the other semi-final, as PAF FC became the second team to reach the final by winning 4-3 on penalties after the scores were level at the full-time whistle.
The tournament’s final was played on 10th May 2018 at the KPT Football Stadium in Karachi, and was fiercely contested between PAF FC and WAPDA FC. After just 11 minutes, Ahmed Faheem from WAPDA FC scored from the spot to give his team a 1-0 lead. Their advantage was cancelled out by a stunning goal from Muhammad Mujahid in the 32nd minute. Samad Khan scored the winning goal for PAF FC in the 66th minute, crowning them champions of the PFF National Challenge Cup 2018. In the third place match, PPL FC emerged victorious against PCCA FC 5-1.
A prize of PKR 1,000,000 was awarded to the winning team, while PKR 700,000 and PKR 500,000 were given to second and third placed teams respectively. Various cash prizes were also given, including ones to the top scorer, the best goalkeeper, and the team with the best fair-play record.