PFF approves two more teams in league

Based on performance, all 14 participants of PPFL 2009 and top two teams of PFF League 2009 entered the showpiece event of PFF. The draws of the event will be issued to participating teams and technical officials in mid-September. The winner of PPFL 2010 will earn the rights to play in the 7th AFC President’s Cup 2011.



“Launched at Karachi’s YMCA ground back in 1948 as the National Championship, the league has been known as the Pakistan Premier League since 2004 when the two-tier system was adopted in domestic football. National Football Championship (Tier I) is called the Pakistan Premier Football League (PPFL) while National Championship (Tier-II) is known as the PFF League,” said PFF Secretary Ahmed Yar Khan Lodhi here on Wednesday.



Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) will defend the title in the 16-team event in 2010. The matches will be played at Karachi, Lahore, Chaman, Nushki, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Sahiwal and Faisalabad.



The other teams in the marathon 240-match league will be Karachi Port Trust (KPT), Pakistan Army, Wapda, National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Pakistan Navy, Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC), Habib Bank Limited (HBL), Chaman’s Afghan Club, PMC Athletico Club Faisalabad, Lahore’s Pak Elektron Limited (PEL), Nushki’s Baloch FC, Pakistan Air Force (PAF), Sui Southern Gas Company and Sahiwalo.



PMC Athletico Club Faisalabad and Nushki’s Baloch FC were relegated on 13 December 2009 by finishing 13th and 14th respectively in the previous edition but they received the recall when the PFF Congress, held under the Chairmanship of Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat, approved the increment of two more teams in the top footballing event of Pakistan.



The previous edition, which had 14 teams, comprised of 182 matches, with every team playing 26 matches. Now each team will play 30 matches in a lengthy 240-match league that will conclude in mid-December 2010.