Pakistan football captain Maria Khan signs for Saudi club

Published August 13, 2023
Pakistan women’s football team captain Maria Khan. — Photo courtesy Eastern Flames FC
Pakistan women’s football team captain Maria Khan. — Photo courtesy Eastern Flames FC

KARACHI: The announcement wasn’t as elaborate or spectacular as the ones Saudi Arabian football clubs have recently made for the arrival of star names like Sadio Mane, but it was still high in its significance.

Dammam-based Eastern Flames on Friday night announced the signing of Pakistan women’s football team captain Maria Khan for the upcoming season of the Saudi Women’s Premier League, a development that came after a string of strong performances by Ms Khan for Pakistan in the Four-Nations Cup last year in the kingdom.

The club announced the move on microblogging site X, formerly Twitter, saying Maria Khan was their first foreign acquisition for the upcoming season.

Saudi Arabia has significantly increased its investment in football in the last year. And since Al-Nassr Football Club signed Cristiano Ronaldo in December and the country’s Public Investment Fund acquired four top clubs, there has been a flurry of big-name arrivals during the current transfer window.

Investments have also been made to develop women’s football, with Saudi Arabia not having hidden its ambition in emulating Qatar and hosting the World Cup in the coming years.

“I had the opportunity to go to Saudi before the influx of investment into the women’s game,” Ms Khan, 31, who was playing her club football in the United Arab Emirates, told Dawn on Saturday.

“However, my circumstances at the time didn’t allow me to make the move. Now, however, I’m at a point in my life where I am able to take this opportunity and really look forward to it.

“Being in the Gulf for over 10 years, I’ve watched the growth of women’s football in the region. More than anything, I’m looking forward to being given the opportunity to try my best not only to represent but also try to bring awareness to fellow Pakistani athletes,” she said.

The Saudi Women’s Premier League replaced the Saudi Women’s National League as the country’s top-tier women’s competition last year. The revamp also saw a significant influx of foreign players, including Morocco’s Ibtissam Jraïdi, who scored at the ongoing Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Women’s football has taken significant strides in Pakistan in the last year, and although a league structure has been non-existent, the national team has put in good performances.

And Maria is hoping her transfer creates a pathway for other players to secure moves to foreign clubs. “I hope this starts to create opportunities for Pakistani athletes and the talent that a lot of times goes unnoticed,” she said.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2023

Opinion

Revival? For whom?

Revival? For whom?

Numerous sets of numbers, not quoted by govt sources, suggest that things are not as dazzling as claimed by those who run the country.

Editorial

Premature alarm
Updated 20 Feb, 2025

Premature alarm

Improvement in headline inflation gives policymakers chance to fix investment policies, implement structural reforms.
Forsaken province
20 Feb, 2025

Forsaken province

AND the endless cycle of violence continues. The brutal killing on Tuesday night of seven Punjab-bound passengers in...
In poor health
20 Feb, 2025

In poor health

THE absence of decent and affordable healthcare in the country continues to ruin lives. An example of this is ...
Out of control
Updated 19 Feb, 2025

Out of control

AS bodies continue to fall in Kurram despite a state-sanctioned ceasefire, one wonders how long local militants’...
Hollow words
19 Feb, 2025

Hollow words

IT is not uncommon for politicians to resort to the use of hyperbole in order to boost their public standing. ...
Migration matters
19 Feb, 2025

Migration matters

THE grass, it seems, did appear greener on the other side to millions of people as evidenced by the latest UN ...