KARACHI, Sept 15 Fifteen football teams comprising top departmental and club outfits gear up to clash with each other as Pakistan Football Federation's (PFF) Pakistan Premier Football League (PPFL) 2010 kicks off simultaneously at different venues from Thursday.
According to the draws, the five matches played on day one will have Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) taking on Karachi Port Trust (KPT) at the KPT-Benazir Sports Complex in Karachi, while at the Model Town Football Academy (MTFA) ground in Lahore, Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) face Pak Elektron Limited (PEL).
Meanwhile, league debutants Young Blood FC will find themselves up against Punjab Medical College's (PMC) Athletico Club at the Rai Ali Nawaz Stadium in Sahiwal as Pakistan Air Force (PAF) clash with Army at the Municipal Stadium in Rawalpindi and Baloch FC lock horns with Afghan FC at the Nushki Stadium in Nushki.
Defending champions Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), Habib Bank Limited (HBL), Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) and Navy are the other five teams featuring in the 56th edition of the event.
Of them PIA have the distinction of taking the title as many as nine times, followed by Wapda, who have seven, and Army, who were crowned the champions four times. KRL, PAF and HBL, meanwhile, have the honour of winning it once each.
The league, to run in three phases, will see the playing of 240 matches in all. There will be 168 matches played in the first phase that ends a little before Eid-ul-Azha. The second phase, beginning after a nine-day break, comprises 54 matches until the Ashura holidays. Finally, 18 matches, to be played in Karachi, among the top teams on the points table conclude the league's third and final phase on Dec 28.
PFF has approved 13 venues in eight different cities for holding the event that is being played on a home-and-way basis.
In Karachi, the Peoples Sports Complex will host 33 matches, the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) Ground 20 while the Korangi Baloch Stadium will see the playing of 19 matches along with the KPT-Benazir Sports Complex, which will stage 18 encounters. Another Karachi ground, the Shahdab Football Stadium, is to remain as a standby venue.
The two grounds selected for matches in Lahore are the MTFA ground and the Railway Stadium. Both will host 15 matches each as will Peshawar's PAF Complex, Chaman's Jamal Nasir Stadium, Nushki's Nushki Stadium and Sahiwal's Rai Ali Nawaz Stadium.
The Railway Ground in Faisalabad will see the playing of 14 matches while there will be just one match played at the city's University of Agriculture Ground.
Perhaps the most matches (45) will be played at the Municipal Stadium in Rawalpindi.
The draws of 41 matches to be held during September are as follows
Sept 16 KPT v KESC at KPT-Benazir Sports Complex, Karachi; PEL v Wapda at MTFA ground, Lahore; Baloch FC v Afghan FC at Nushki Stadium, Nushki; PAF v Army at Municipal Stadium, Rawalpindi; Young Blood FC v PMC Athletico Club Faisalabad at Rai Ali Nawaz Stadium, Sahiwal.
Sept 17 NBP v SSGC at Korangi Baloch Stadium, Karachi; HBL v PIA at Peoples Sports Complex, Karachi.
Sept 18 PAF v KRL at PAF Complex, Peshawar; Navy v Army at Municipal Stadium, Rawalpindi; PMC Athletico v Wapda at Railway Ground, Faisalabad; PEL v Young Blood FC at MTFA, Lahore.
Sept 19 PIA v NBP at CDGK Stadium, Karachi; SSGC v KPT at KPT-Benazir Sports Complex, Karachi; KESC v HBL at Peoples Sports Complex, Karachi.
Sept 20 Afghan FC v Baloch FC at Jamal Nasir Stadium, Chaman; Army v KRL at Municipal Stadium, Rawalpindi; PAF v Navy at PAF Complex, Peshawar.
Sept 21 PEL v PMC Athletico at MTFA Ground, Lahore; Young Blood FC v Wapda at Rai Ali Nawaz Stadium, Sahiwal.
Sept 22 KPT v PIA at KPT-Benazir Sports Complex, Karachi; KESC v NBP at Peoples Sports Complex, Karachi.
Sept 23 Afghan FC v SSGC at Jamal Nasir Stadium, Chaman; Baloch FC v HBL at Nushki Stadium, Nushki; KRL v Navy at Municipal Stadium, Rawalpindi; PAF v Army at PAF Complex, Peshawar.
Sept 24 Wapda v Young Blood FC at Railway Stadium, Lahore; PMC Athtelico v PEL at Railway Ground, Faisalabad.
Sept 25 NBP v KPT at Korangi Baloch Stadium, Karachi; KESC v PIA at Peoples Sports Complex, Karachi.
Sept 26 Afghan FC v HBL at Jamal Nasir Stadium, Chaman; Baloch FC v SSGC at Nushki Stadium, Nushki; Navy v PAF (1.30pm) and KRL v Army (4.00pm) at Municipal Stadium, Rawalpindi.
Sept 27 Wapda v PMC Athletico at Railway Stadium, Lahore; PIA v KPT at Korangi Baloch Stadium, Karachi.
Sept 28 Army v Navy at Municipal Stadium, Rawalpindi; Baloch FC v NBP at Nushki Stadium, Nushki; Afghan FC v KESC at Jamal Nasir Stadium, Chaman.
Sept 29 KPT v HBL at KPT-Benazir Sports Complex, Karachi; PIA v SSGC at CDGK Stadium, Karachi.
Sept 30 PMC Athletico v Young Blood FC at Railway Stadium, Faisalabad.
Matches, unless stated otherwise, kick off at 4.00pm.
