KARACHI: Pakistan women’s football team goalkeeper Mahpara Shahid and midfielder Zulfia Shah will represent Rossoneri Dubai FC, a UAE-based amateur club, over the next three months.

The move brings hope for Mahpara and Zulfia, who, along with their other national team-mates have been deprived of playing the game since the last three years.

No women football has taken place since Pakistan hosted the 2014 South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Women’s Championship due to infighting in the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF).

The women’s team also pulled out of the latest version of the tournament which was held in December last year.

“We will finally get to play some football after a long wait which has frustrated us,” Mahpara, who has been the part of the national side since 2010, told Dawn on Monday.

Mahpara has also played football in Maldives but she believed Dubai will be a bigger and better experience.

“In Dubai we will get to play with and against players from many different nationalities,” she said. “It will also help us gain exposure.”

Zulfia, who plays for Karachi United, echoed Mahpara’s thoughts and believed experience at Rossoneri, a club founded in 2015, will help her improve as a player.

“There is no football being played in the country and such a chance cannot be ignored,” the 17-year-old told Dawn.

Mahpara and Zulfia are expecting to feature in the starting line-up when they play their first match for their new club on February 1.

Published in Dawn January 31st, 2017