Summary Zalmi stepped up to promote women empowerment through the Zalmi TV presenting GBGFL.
LAHORE (Dunya News) - Gilgit-Baltistan Girls Football League (GBGFL) concluded with Chipursan emerging victorious in the final against Shimshal in Passu.
Gilgit-Baltistan Girls Football League has definitely established itself as a national level event. “Peshawar Zalmi is proud to have become part of this brilliant initiative to promote women empowerment through sports in Pakistan”, said Chairman Javed Afridi. “We are thankful to all the partners and locals involved in making this event a huge success, Karishma & Sumaira Inayat”.
Pakistan s biggest sporting entity, Peshawar Zalmi, has once again stepped up to empower the youth of Pakistan. This time, Zalmi stepped up to promote women empowerment through the Zalmi TV presenting Gilgit-Baltistan Football League being held in Gilgit-Baltistan.
Eight teams from all around the region of Gilgit Baltistan participated in this five-day event with Shimshal and Chipursan making their way into the grand-final which was held at the beautiful Passu Football Ground Suronobad, Gojal Hunza.
The league is the brainchild of two former Football players, Karishma and Sumera, who have represented Pakistan Internationally and belong to the region of Shimshal. The first of its kind event took place at the high altitude of Passu where more than 120 girls were seen participating to compete for the final prize.
The final was an exciting match played between the two top teams of the tournament. The players from Chipursan and Shimshal were seen playing at a different level with their dominating victories against their opponents. The final was drawn and was decided on penalties.
After a tough penalty shootout to decide the final, Chipursan emerged victorious with 3-1 on penalties against Shimshal. The crowd could not have asked for a better final than they witnessed live in front of their eyes. Locals from the nearby villages came and supported the girls including their family members. It was a brilliant sight to see the families supporting our young girls in the realm of sports.
In his statement, Chairman Peshawar Zalmi Javed Afridi said, "the sporting talent in Pakistan is not only limited to boys but our girls are multi-talented as well. Pakistani women have made a name for themselves in the sporting world and we hope that more women will come into the sports arena. The talent of football in Pakistan is immense and we hope that through this initiative, it garners into an asset for Pakistan Women’s Football".
Furthermore, he added that "such initiatives are incumbent for us to empower the youth of Pakistan. It goes to show that our talent can be found in the mountains of the north to the southern belt in the south. Zalmi will keep on working diligently for the revival of sports in Pakistan."
In an interview with a local football player of GBGFL, the player mentioned, “it is an honor for us to play in this league as it provides us a platform to showcase our talent. Not only this but also it provides us opportunities to get scholarships to get into good universities in Pakistan. Through the GBGFL, girls from the region of Hunza have gotten sports scholarships from prestigious universities in Pakistan. It not only helps us improve our game but also provides us an opportunity to pursue our higher education” she further added.
Karishma Inayat and Sumaira Inayat, the heads of GBGFL, in their statement said "we are thankful to all the partners and locals who have helped us in making this league a huge success. We hope that through this league, people will see the talent that is existing in Women’s Football in Pakistan. We hope that things get better and these girls get an equal opportunity as the boys to enter into the mainstream sports arena".
They added, "We aim to take this league to all parts of Pakistan and we hope that one day we will be able to execute this. We urge the media to fully support us in this endeavor as they have done it this year as well. We aim to make GBGFL III, bigger and better than before and take it to other parts of Pakistan and invite teams from other parts of Pakistan as well.”
There were eight teams competing in this event. The teams included: Shimshal, Chipurson, Shishkat, Passu, Sost, Hunza, Khyber & Gircha. The teams were divided into two pools of four teams each.
After the group stages, the semifinals took place in which Chipursan and Shimshal qualified for the final.
The final took place on the September 17, 2019. The Closing Ceremony was conducted right after the final which was attended by our esteemed guests from Hunza. Chipursan were handed over the winner trophy.
