Last year's champions Young Rising Star of Rawalpindi will be among the teams vying for a spot in the National Women's Championship. —File photo by APP

ISLAMABAD: The fourth edition of the National Women’s Football Club Championship has moved ahead by nine days, officials announced on Monday.

The tournament, which serves as a qualifier for the National Women’s Championship (NWC), will now commence from April 15 instead of April 5, a Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) official told APP.

The 24 participant teams will vie for eight qualification spots, with matches being played in four zones, Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar.

“The top two teams of each zone will be promoted to the seventh National Women’s Championship, which will be played at Islamabad’s Jinnah Stadium from September 17 to 30,” the official said.

“We have increased the number of qualifiers from four to eight.”

The four teams to qualify for last year’s NWC were Karachi’s Diya FC, Peshawar’s Frontier College, Lahore’s Sport Sciences and Young Rising Star from Rawalpindi.

Participants of the fourth National Women Club Championship

Peshawar: Frontier College, United, Peshawar FC, Spark FC, Chamkani FC, Striker FC, Charsadda FC Lahore: Model Town, LUMS, Sports Sciences, Fatima, Lahore Fighters, LGS JT Karachi: Diya FC, Karachi Women, Marta Women, Karachi Kickers Vehari: Vehari United, Rawalpindi: Young Rising Star Islamabad: Margala FC Takht Bhai: Takht Bhai FC Abbottabad: Hazara Star Nowshera: GGHSS Dak Ismail Khel Fata: FataFC