KARACHI, June 6: The National U-16 Football Championship will kick off on Friday in Abbottabad.

Twelve teams will take part in the event including eight provincial/regional teams (Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Sindh, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Fata, Gilgit-Baltistan and Abbottabad) and four teams from Karachi, Quetta, Lahore and Peshawar.

The teams will be divided in four groups of three with the top team from each group advancing to the semi-finals. The final will be held on June 18.

The Pakistan Football Federation, meanwhile has nominated Nasir Ismail, Sajjad Mehmood, Najeebullah Najmi and Ayaz Butt for the Technical Study Group (TSG) who will look to select the best players in the event for the national side which will take part in the U-16 SAFF Cup and the AFC U-16 Championship Qualifiers.

The U-16 SAFF Cup is set to be hosted by Nepal in July although the dates have not yet been finalised for the regional event.—Sports Reporter