KARACHI: The Naseem Hameed Football Academy has won the Karachi Electric (KE) Girls Football League. They defeated the Marta Women Football Club in the extra time on penalties by 2-0 to clinch the trophy and prize money of PKR 100,000.
Eight football clubs from around the city participated in this tournament which was the first corporate-backed girl’s football league. A total of 128 young female footballers participated in the event which gave women’s football a much-needed boost with regards to preparing young female footballers for the future.
The tournament was jointly organized by K-Electric and Naseem Hameed Football Academy. The participating teams included Naseem Hameed Football Academy, Aga Khan Gymkhana, Young Muslim Women Football Club, Marta Women Football Club, Karachi Kickers Football Academy, Mohsin Gilani Football Academy, Elite Sports Academy and Social Bond FC.
ESG and Sports Marketing Deputy Director – Zehra Mehdi stated that “The successful conclusion of this tournament has made K-Electric the first corporate entity in Pakistan to take such a valuable initiative, aimed at encouraging women’s participation in football and other sports. Watching these young female footballers dominate the football pitch was a sight and such leagues would definitely encourage more stars to emerge.”
The closing ceremony was graced by dignitaries such as the Sports and Youth Affairs Secretary Dr Niaz Abbasi, Naseem Hameed, Former Balochistan Sports Minister, Col (R) Younus Changaizi along with senior officials of K-Electric.
The chief guest addressed the ceremony and said, “I appreciate the role of K-Electric in encouraging women’s participation in football, boxing and other popular sports at the grass-root level. Many of these young contenders are promising great potential to excel on an international scale, with a little more support and guidance.”
In 2016, KE had organized the first ever ‘Girls Boxing Championship’. Creating various powerful platforms to engage different segments of the population. KE is empowering the youth and giving back to society by generously providing the necessary resources to promote sports.
Over the last six years, the continued success of the annual ‘KE Lyari Football League’ has channelled energies of thousands of football-enthusiasts and produced dozens of national and international players from an underprivileged community.