Karachi, April 11: Top two teams of each of the five districts will vie for top honors in the final round of the Leisure Leagues Karachi Youth Initiative Football Championship here at KMC Stadium Football Stadium at 3:00 pm on Friday, April 13.
Earlier, a total of 1,000 players representing 100 teams – twenty teams from each of the five districts namely District South, Central, East, Malir and West participated in the qualifying rounds of the championship.
Furthermore, two leagues, comprising of ten teams each, were organized for each district. Champions of those ten leagues qualified for this final round. Each team played a total of 14 matches during the qualifying rounds. Each team comprised of ten players including three substitute players.
In the final round, two groups of four teams each will be formed while the remaining two teams will directly qualify for semifinals on the basis of draw. After playing knock out matches, one team from each group, after playing two matches, will qualify for semifinals. Draw will be opened in presence of each district representatives.
Meanwhile, all of the 1000 players of all five districts are expected to be present during the closing ceremony along with their coaches and district officials. Medals and certificates will be distributed among all participating players of the championship.
The Leisure Leagues KYI Football Championship began with one hundred matches played at five different venues – namely Gabol Park (South District), 16-Star Football Ground (District Central), Ansar Union Football Stadium (District East), Mohammadi Stadium (District Malir) and Khyber-Muslim Football Stadium (District West) on Saturday and Sunday.
Twenty teams were equally divided into two groups – Group A and Group B and played two matches against one another – on home and away basis against other teams in their respective groups. According to Leisure Leagues rule book, a league cannot have more than ten teams. Therefore, the twenty teams playing at one venue had been divided into two groups of ten teams each.
Top two teams of each Districts qualified for final round namely Hazara United and Baloch Star from Central, Gizri Star and Al-Ghazi from East, Haji Samad FC and Pak Zamindar from South, Baloch Youth Garden and Khaber Muslim from West and Omer Star and Shazad Mohammadan from Malir Districts
Leisure Leagues has organized this league for the underprivileged youngsters of the city in order to keep them involved in healthy activities and subsequently away from unsocial activities. Leisure Leagues also believe that such activities can in near future produce football stars for the country.
Each player, who participated in the tournament was been given free kit and football shoes. Conveyance allowance was also been given to each team.
“In line with our long standing commitment to giving back to the people of Pakistan, we continue to provide opportunities for the underprivileged youth of Karachi through sports. This initiative will help keep them away from negative activities. And channel their energy in the right direction,” Chairman World Group Mehmood Trunkwala said. Leisure Leagues has been brought to Pakistan by Trunkwala family.
The winners of the Leisure Leagues KYI Football Championship will qualify for forthcoming Leisure Leagues Intra-City Championship.
Leisure Leagues is holding its events across the country including Lahore, Islamabad, Hyderabad, Peshawar, Mardan, Quetta and Rawalpindi. Jacobabad and Gilgit are next in line. Leisure Leagues is looking forward to enhance their presence in more cities in near future.