The Hamara Karachi Floodlit 7-a-side Football Festival 2012 began with much fan-fare at National Soccer Academy Ground in Paposh, Karachi yesterday 15 March 2012.
The opening day fixtures saw Usmanabad Union thrash Gulshan Soccer (DFA Central) 4-1, while Baloch Union (DFA West) beat Young Muslim (Orangi) 2-1. Referees were Habibullah and Babar Khan with match commissioner Abdul Karim.
Usmanabad Union’s junior international Muhammad Imran (PIA) scored a hat-trick against Gulshan Soccer while Tariq also scored for winning side. Gulshan Soccer could only respond through a goal from Ahmed. For Baloch Union. international star Muhammad bin Younas (KPT) scored twice, while Haider managed one for Young Muslim.
The event was opened in a glittering ceremony with chief guest Dr Syed Muhammad Ali Shah (Sindh Provincial Sports Minister) in attendance. Nazir Lakhani (District Central administrator) spoke on the occasion and praised the success of previous Hamara Karachi Football Festivals, and hoped similar events will be planned in other districts of Karachi as well, as well as reassuring his support to future tournaments. Nazir Lakhani also revealed that because of popular demand, the Hamara Karachi festival was expanded to include more teams from across the city.
Also in attendance were Mushtaq Ahmed (Director Local Bodies, Karachi), Pervaiz Iqbal (Director Karachi, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Income Support Program), Rahim Bakhsh Baloch (DFA West secretary), Riaz Ahmed (Admin. and Media Manager, Karachi United Football Foundation), ex-international Saleem Patni (DFA Central vice president), M Shamim (DFRA Central secretary), Arshad Jamal (tournament organising secretary), Asif Khan (National Soccer Academy senior vice-president), Saleem Uddin Babar (DFRA Central chairman), ex-international Nasir Ali, Husam Uddin, Lala Aurangzeb, Junaid Khan, Abdul Karim, Khalid Majeed et al.