PSB grants Pakistan women’s football team no objection certificate

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) issued the No Objection Certificate (NOC) to the National Women’s Football Team for the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship on Saturday.

It came just in the nick of time, as the Pakistani team is scheduled to fly from Islamabad to Kathmandu, Nepal, today, October 12.

While the sports board granted the NOC, they urge all sports federations to apply for the certificate in the appropriate time in order to go abroad.

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The SAFF Championship will take place from October 17 to 30, with the opening match being a contest between rivals Pakistan and India. The team is coached by Adeel Rizki and will feature the following players.

SQUAD:

Goalkeepers: Nisha Ashraf, Mafia Parveen and Rumaysa Khan

Defe­nders: Kayla Siddiqui, Mishal Bhatti, Sarah Khan, Nizalia Siddiqi, Sophia Quershi, Fatima Nasir and Mehreen Khan

Midfielders: Suha Hirani, Maria Khan, Sanah Meh­di, Amina Hanif, Rameen Fareed and Kayanat Bhokari

Forwards: Nadia Khan, Zahmena Malik, Isra Khan, Anmol Hira, Anushay Usman and Alia Sadiq

CONTROVERSY

The team’s participation in the tournament was up in the air, after it was revealed on October 9, that the team had not been granted a NOC by the PSB.

The sports board cited errors made by the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) in submission of the required documents. While the PFF stated that they finalised the squad and sent the required documents by September 16, the PSB stated that the documents were submitted after the designated deadline and that a reminder was given to the PFF of the necessary protocols on September 12.

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Additionally, the document was signed by normalisation committee member Shahid Khokhar, instead of committee chairman Haroon Malik.