KARACHI, July 15: Lahore’s Punjab Stadium will play host to the six Super Four encounters in the first National Women Football Club Championship that kicks off with the match between Sialkot’s Vehari United and Karachi’s Diya Women Football Club at 4.30pm on Wednesday.

The Wapda-backed Lahore’s WP Club and Rawalpindi’s Young Rising Stars are the other two outfits competing in the championship carrying a total prize of Rs1,15,000.

The competing teams reached the Super Four stage after bagging maximum points in their respective groups. WP Club won their entire Group ‘A’ matches in Lahore without conceding a single goal to gain nine points. And playing in their home city naturally makes them the favourites to win the Super Four.

In Group ‘B’, the Sialkot-based Vehari United Club, also without conceding any goals, emerged as the strongest side with six points while Group ‘C’ was headed by Rawalpindi’s Young Rising Stars, who also without losing any matches gained nine points.

Meanwhile clouded by controversies, the Group ‘D’ matches in Karachi were a separate story altogether. Pakistan Football Federation’s (PFF) disciplinary committee had to step in after Diya Club accused their rivals of cheating by staging fixed matches.

The holding of a rematch by the PFF later in order to settle the issue, saw Diya getting a walkover when Karachi Kickers failed to show up for the match, making Diya the league toppers.

Former FIFA referee Arif Siddiqui has been named the match commissioner while Pakistan Premier Football League 2008 technical official Rauf Bari is the referee assessor. The match referees include the current FIFA Referee Waheed Murad, Mohammad Shams, Fayyaz Siddiqui, Akhwanzada Essa Khan, Zulfiqar Babli and Mohammad Irfan.

In a bid to uplift women’s soccer in Pakistan, PFF President Makhdoon Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat has announced lucrative awards for the top three teams and best players of the championship. The winning team will grab Rs50,000, the runner-up Rs30,000 and the third-placed team Rs20,000. Individual prizes include Rs10,000 for the Most Valuable Player, Rs5,000 for the top scorer and another Rs5,000 prize for the best goalkeeper.

Meanwhile the teams featuring in the Super Four have already earned a passage into next month’s 4th National Women’s Championship. After Diya WFC’s arrival in Lahore being delayed on Tuesday evening, the PFF moved their 8.00am morning match to 4.30 in the afternoon.

The July 16 to 20 matches at the Punjab Stadium are expected to be witnessed by a sizeable number of spectators as the PFF has taken care to send out invitations to various girls’ colleges as well as the players’ families. Keeping in mind that it’s a women’s event, security will also be on alert.

Schedule:

July 16: Vehari United v Diya WFC at 4.30pm (Referee: Waheed Murad. Assistant referees: Fayyaz Siddiqui and Zulfiqar Babli).

WP Club v Young Rising Star Club at 6.00pm (Referee: Essa Khan. Assistant referees: Mohammad Irfan and Mohammad Shams).

July 18: Diya WFC v WP Club at 8.00am (Referee: Waheed Murad. Assistant referee: Fayyaz Siddiqui and Zulfiqar Babli).

Vehari United v Young Rising Star Club at 6.00pm (Referee: Essa Khan. Assistant referees: Mohammad Shams and Mohammad Irfan)

July 20: Vehari United v WP Club at 8.00am (Referee: Fayyaz Siddiqui, Assistant referees: Mohammad Shams and Mohammad Irfan). Diya WFC v Young Rising Star Club at 6.00pm (Referee: Waheed Murad. Assistant referees: Essa Khan and Zulfiqar Babli).