ISLAMABAD: Citizens of the twin cities are unaware of the 3rd South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Women’s Championship taking place at Jinnah Stadium.

At the opening match being played between Pakistan and Sri Lanka on Tuesday, there were only 500-700 spectators in a stadium with a capacity of 60,000.

Interprovincial Coordination Minister Riaz Hussain Pirzada, who inaugurated the championship, appeared visibly surprised at the small turnout at the opening ceremony.

The crowd was only made up of participating teams and some students and with no attendance from the general public.

A source at Pakistan Sports Board said that no advertising campaign was launched by Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) to inform the public about the tournament which is featuring eight teams including hosts Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

PFF Secretary retired Col Ahmed Yar Khan Lodhi said the federation worked under very limited resources and under the circumstances it had done its best to get the championship highlighted.

“I agree that we failed to put up banners in the city and distribute pamphlets to inform people about the mega event. We requested Capital Development Authority to support us in advertising the championship but they refused,” he said.

He added that he is still hopeful for better turnout in the next matches. The 10-day championship will end with a final match on November 21.

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2014