KARACHI: Most of the Karachi-based teams have decided not to play any game in Chaman in the next season of the Pakistan Premier Football League, ‘The News’ has learnt.
Sources said that Karachi-based teams decided this after going through a serious of troubles in Chaman during their recent matches of PPFL.
Teams of KPT, KESC, Habib Bank, National Bank and PIA are based in Karachi. For the current season Navy has also chosen Karachi as its home venue.
Sources said that the teams took the stance because they thought they were wrongly treated by the referees who gave decisions in favour of the local teams, Muslim FC and Afghan FC, because of the crowd pressure.
Sources said that Chaman was a perfect place for football from the point of view of spectators, but the referees felt compelled to give decisions in favour of the local clubs. It would be useless for the departments to play matches in the town in future, said sources.
Sources said that the Pakistan Football Federation’s (PFF) officials were not seen during the matches in Chaman, although every time there was a chance of public violence.
Sources said that the teams from the port city would go to Quetta next season but would avoid playing in Chaman, the venue which attracts thousands of fans.