National U15 Football Championship of Pakistan in June
Pakistan Times Sports Desk

LAHORE: Pakistan Football Federation has decided to hold the National U15 Football Championship in June next at a centre which was not considered before for such a event.

“We want to select a city for an important football activity to involve youth in this sport and to promote football at grass roots level “,said,President, President, PFF Faisal Saleh Hayat.

He said, staging of national junior championships at smaller towns will help in developing the game in far-flung areas.

The participating teams are, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Northern Areas, Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Islamabad, Sindh, NWFP, Balochistan, Punjab, Lahore ‘s Wohaib FC, Garhi Shahue FC, Chaman’s Afghan FC.

“Invitations are also being sent to various educational units, clubs and organizations to take part in coming event”,he said.

PFF Chief said the event will help the national federation to form Pakistan U16 team for the AFC’s age-group competition.

“Pakistan will take on Arabian nations Syria, Yemen, Oman, Qatar and Central Asian Kyrgyzstan in the AFC U16

Championship Qualifiers (Group-A) from October 17-28”,he asserted.

The event was set up to provide another tier of competitive international football in Asia with the aim of developing young playing talent in the region.

The competition-which is held every two years - also acts as a qualifying tournament for the FIFA U-17 World Championship at which the AFC is given three berths for Asian teams.

Forty-five teams were drawn from the pots and put into eight sections, divided into six technical levels on ranking based from the AFC U-17 Championship 2006.

The winners and runners-up of the seven groups qualify for the Finals alongwith the winner of the three-team Group H which comprises Korea Republic, Thailand and Chinese Taipei. The yet to be identified hosts also qualify automatically for the Finals in 2008.

Pakistan is taking part regularly in the competition, now played on a biennial basis following the inauguration of the FIFA World U16 Championship in 1985, and is also restricted to under-16s.

The Groupings;

GROUP A: Pakistan, Syria, Yemen, Oman, Qatar, Kyrgyzstan

GROUP B : Iran, Nepal , Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain , Afghanistan

GROUP C : Saudi Arabia, Iraq , India, Sri Lanka, Lebanon , Bhutan

GROUP D : Tajikistan, Bangladesh , UAE, Uzbekistan, Palestine, Turkmenistan

GROUP E : China, Singapore , Guam, Mongolia, Macau , Philippines

GROUP F : Japan, Vietnam , Hong Kong, Indonesia, Cambodia , Laos

GROUP G: DPR Korea, Myanmar , Australia, Malaysia, Maldives , Timor Leste

GROUP H: Korea Republic, Thailand, Chinese Taipei●