LAHORE: The National Football Challenge Cup 2018 will be staged in Karachi from April 20 to May 20, a spokesman of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) has said.

Top 24 teams of the country will vie for the top honours. It will be the first PFF event after Faisal Saleh Hayat-led body got back control of the national federation early this month as a result of a decision of a double division bench of the Lahore High Court which upheld the 2015 PFF election results that gave Faisal victory as the federation president.

After the LHC decision, FIFA also removed suspension on the PFF, a development that led the way towards the revival of footballing activities in the country.

Meanwhile, the increasing interest shown by a number of teams to take part in the National Challenge Cup is encouraging.

“We are highly encouraged by the overwhelming response from the football lovers of Pakistan. Many new teams have requested for their registration in the National Challenge Cup 2018,” a PFF press release quoted Faisal as saying.

“Some new outfits willing to participate in the Challenge Cup are Pakistan State Life Insurance, Asia Ghee Mills and Shama Banaspati. They have approached the PFF for their teams to be registered for the National Challenge Cup 2018,” the PFF spokesman added.

Published in Dawn, March 31st, 2018