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KARACHI: Circumstances beyond her control have forced a young football star Mehwish Khan, the first woman to have scored an international goal for Pakistan, to stay out of the forthcoming 4th National Women Football Club Championship 2011 that kicks off on April 6.
Twenty-year-old Mehwish Khan who looks forward to transferring to Pakistan Wapda after leaving the Diya Women's Football Club (DWFC) is still waiting for an NOC from her former club that would allow her to transfer out.
Mehwish, who plays as a right fullback for Pakistan, was the first woman footballer to score an international goal for her country when she donned the green jersey in the national team's first appearance in the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Women's Football Championship in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in December last year. The goal was scored against Maldives who Pakistan beat 2-1. Pakistan later also outclassed Afghanistan 3-0 to stroll into the semi-finals of the eight-nation event.
The player also has the honour of attending the FIFA Women Football Coaching Course at Colombo, Sri Lanka in September 2010.
“We hardly get to play any football and I was really hoping to get back into competition mode since the SAFF Championship through the forthcoming inter-club championship but my chances to play in it seem pretty much impossible now as no club or department will take me on without an NOC from Diya, my former club,” said Mehwish while speaking to Dawn on Thursday.
“It is part of the PFF rules for club and department transfers that a player must present an NOC from his or her former department or club to get registered with another. Players transfer all the time but the rules for that vary from country to country.
“Here until recently you could still join if the club you left was not willing to give you an NOC by paying double the registration fee but as per the new regulations issued by the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) now an NOC is a must for making the transfer,” informed Pakistan Wapda women's team coach Qasim Shah.
When contacted, Diya Club owner and General Secretary Sadia Sheikh said that she had no problems about issuing the girl an NOC provided she fulfills another requirement.
“Mehwish will have to arrange a payment of Rs5,000 of which four is to come to Diya and one to the PFF before the transfer,” explained Sadia. “That done, I will gladly hand her the NOC, but after the inter-club championship as I happen to be in Lahore at the moment,” she added.
The 4th National Women Football Club Championship 2011 that concludes on April 13 will be held simultaneously in four cities, namely, Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar. Diya and national champions Young Rising Star (Rawalpindi) are the two women football clubs taking part in the event who also recently got the honour of becoming PFF Congress members.
Meanwhile, in order to remain fit, the player meets up for practice with a few other girls from an unregistered local club which, according to sources, has another six former Diya Club players awaiting NOCs in order for them to join a proper department or club team.
