KARACHI: Karachi United opened the National Women’s Football Championship on Friday with a 5-0 thumping of Mohsen Gilani FC at the Karachi United Stadium here on Friday.

The result helped United take early charge of the five-team Group 3 of the qualification round which is being played in Karachi. Groups 1 and 2 are also being staged in Karachi with Lahore hosting Groups 4 and 5 and Rawalpindi Groups 6 and 7.

United raced into a 4-0 lead at halftime with Naina, Naqia, Fatima and Zoya scoring. Fatima added a second goal with Mohsen Gilani FC showing a more compact performance in the second half.

The other teams in Group 3 are CD SS FC, Karachi Kickers and Sindh.

Group 1 comprises Jafa FC, Karachi FC and Naseem Hameed FC while Diya FC, Balochistan and Football School of Excellence make up Group 2. Play in those two pools begins next week.

Wapda, CJM Sialkot and Young Rising Star Layyah are in Group 4 while Punjab, Model Town and Higher Education Commission have been drawn in Group 5.

Young Rising Star Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Gilgit-Baltistan will compete in Group 6 with Army, Frontier FC, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Hawks FC all vying in Group 7.

The championship is the first domestic event started by the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) Normalisation Commit­tee which was appointed by FIFA in September this year.

PFF Normalisation Committee chairman Humza Khan was in attendance at the opening fixture.

The qualification round ends on Dec 12, with the final round being played in Islamabad afterwards.

Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2019