April 07, 2008	Monday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 29, 1429

KARACHI, April 6: The Under-15 Youth football championship semi-finals line up has been completed amid controversy after a coach alleged his player had represented a different outfit.

Bayview High, DA Public, Beacon Jubilee and Karachi Grammar in the schools category and ZU Football, Gulshan Soccer, Gharib Shah and Zamzama United in the academies category have all reached the semi-finals.

The knockout stage with longer duration matches of 25-minute halves witnessed an atmosphere of much excitement as three matches were decided on penalty shootouts.

But the proceedings were marred by a controversy during the match between ZU Football Academy and Karachi United on Sunday when DA School’s coach Tariq Qureshi objected to one of his school team players playing for ZU. Nabeel Ahmed abandoned his club team when the coach informed him that it was up him to decide whether he wanted to play for the club or never play football in school.

The match was decided on penalty kicks after both teams remained 0-0 at fulltime. ZU Academy won 8-7.

The match between St. Patrick’s High and DA Public was also decided on penalty shootouts. It was an odd sight to see Nabeel Ahmed playing for his school team wearing the school’s jersey but with ZU Academy socks. The match was won by DA 4-3.

Gharib Shah M’Dan beat Beaconhouse PECHS 5-0, Beacon Jubilee beat City School Nazimabad 3-1, KGS beat Bayview Academy 4-0, Bayview High beat City Gulshan 3-2, Zamzama United beat Karachi All Stars 3-0 and Gulshan Soccer beat Real Soccer Academy 3-2 through penalty kicks after both outfits remained 1-1 at fulltime.

In the academy semis on Tuesday, ZU play Gulshan Soccer and Gharib Shah face Zamzama United.

Bayview High take on DA Public while Beacon Jubilee face KGS in the school team semi-finals on Friday. The finals will be played on Sunday.