Pakistan Premier League

History

Origins

The National Football Championship served as the highest level football competition from 1948 to 2003, held on knock-out basis and a closed format competition rather than league system. Parallel to the championship, many separate amateur regional leagues with promotion and relegation featuring clubs were also held, like Dhaka Football League, Karachi Football League, Lahore Football League, or Quetta Football League.

The roots of national level football league in Pakistan trace back to 1992, when under the tenure of PFF General Secretary Hafiz Salman Butt, the 1992–93 and 1993–94 seasons of National Football Championship were contested in a league-style format rather than as a knockout competition, becoming Pakistan's first ever national league format competition. Sponsored as the National Lifebuoy A-Division Football Championship, the tournament ran across several months and introduced a system of promotion and relegation with the second-tier National Lifebuoy B-Division Football Championship. The A-Division titles were won by Pakistan Airlines (1992–93) and Pakistan Army (1993–94), while the B-Division was won by Crescent Textile Mills (1992), National Bank (1993), and Frontier Scouts (1994).

The experiment lasted only two seasons. Following Butt’s removal from office in 1994, the competition reverted to its previous knockout format.

National A Division Football League (2004)

In August 2003, the PFF came under new management, as the politician Faisal Saleh Hayat took over. Under the new management, the Pakistan Football Federation phased out the National Football Championship, and in 2004 introduced the National A Division Football League, which contained 16 clubs. With the inception of the newly formed league, provincial and divisional teams were phased out from the top tier. In contrast, departmental and armed forces teams remained active in the new league format.

WAPDA became the inaugural champions, with Army finishing second and KRL third. After completion of the season in October 2004, PFF launched the second tier PFF League with 5 clubs with promotion and relegation.

Pakistan Premier League (2005–present)

In 2005 season, the National A Division Football League was renamed to the Pakistan Premier League. In 2006, the Pakistan Football Federation introduced the National Club Championship as a third tier beneath the PFF League.

In the 2007–08 season, the league was expanded to 14 clubs. For the 2010–11 season the league was expanded to 16 clubs. The two bottom teams at the end of each Pakistan Premier League season would to be relegated to the PFF League, while the top 2 teams in the Football Federation League would be promoted to the Pakistan Premier League.

The Geo Super Football League of 2007, also ran as a parallel city-based league to Pakistan Premier League, held in Karachi and saw record crowds at Peoples Stadium. It wasn’t until 2010 with the next edition that the Geo League came back only to be discontinued due to differences with the PFF.

Despite the revamp and introduction of the Pakistan Premier League in 2004, the domestic setup remained under severe criticism due to the precarious and unprofessional conditions and setup, and continuous domination of departments in the domestic competition. The teams essentially survived on their department sport budgets, with the players sidelined as permanent employees than as professional footballers. Since the PFF had not made serious attempts to lure large businesses to invest in and sponsor teams, the league had a dominance of department and armed forces teams, which resulted in poor attendances, with the best supported teams being the Balochistan clubs such as Afghan Chaman, Baloch Nushki and Muslim FC. In contrast, the Karachi Football League, despite being a regional competition, routinely attracted healthy audiences. Private football clubs are severely strapped for cash and barely surviving a season.

Inactivity and suspensions (2015–present)

The league was suspended in 2015 due to the Pakistan Football Federation crisis, until the lift on suspension by FIFA on 13 March 2018. The 2018–19 season was organised by two different federations, and was reportedly not recognised by FIFA and AFC. Faisal Saleh Hayat-led Pakistan Football Federation, which was internationally recognised, started the league and non-FIFA recognised Ashfaq Hussain Shah group, which formed a parallel PFF, coming into power by third-party interference through the PFF elections conducted by the Supreme Court a month before the termination of the season completed the event.

After the suspension once again from all football activities by FIFA on 7 April 2021, the 2021–22 season was initially organised by the Ashfaq Hussain Shah group, who again came to power after attacking and taking charge of the PFF office. The tournament was suspended after a few months into the season and then cancelled. Majority of the departmental clubs were also disbanded following the shutdown of departmental sports in Pakistan in September 2021. Departmental sports in Pakistan were restored in August 2022. As of July 2023 however, few departments reportedly remained active in football, and since then became restricted to the PFF National Challenge Cup.

Expected revamp

The upcoming season is expected to include only club sides, excluding the departmental teams which would not be able to take part from now on. The expected revamp is followed by the initial first round in the shape of district club championships, which also served as club scrutiny of the elections of the Pakistan Football Federation in 2024. After a second round throughout the country, the district champions clubs would go through the third round at the provincial level, featuring top clubs of the federating units. Following, one or two top clubs from each province and regions are expected to feature in the season. However following the controversial tenure of the interim normalisation committee installed by FIFA, reportedly a parallel short-term franchise based league has also been discussed.

Names

Clubs

Champions

List of champions by season

For champions before the Premier League see List of Pakistan football champions.

Most successful clubs

Ranking

Main article: AFC club competitions ranking

As of 26 August 2021

Structure

Main article: Pakistani football league system

The Pakistan Premier League is directly under control of the Pakistan Football Federation. The PFF oversees all aspects of the league and makes unilateral decisions over any changes to the format, funding and sponsorship.

Competition format

Competition

There are currently 16 clubs in the PPL. The season lasts during the winter months stretching from November to February, with each club playing the others twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents for a total of 30 games for each club, with a total of 240 games in each season. Each teams receives three points for a win and one point for a draw. Teams are ranked by total points, then goal difference and then goals scored. At the end of each season, the club with the most points is crowned as PPL Champion. At the end of the season, the two worst teams are relegated directly to the PFF League, while the top two teams in the PFF League are promoted to the PPL.

Qualification for Asian competitions

The top team in the PPL automatically qualified for the AFC President's Cup until its abolishment in 2014, it was the weakest branch of Asian Football, but the winner of the PPL would later be nominated for the AFC Cup from 2016. Since 2024, the clubs get a place for the AFC Challenge League. Technically, the PFF can nominate any team to represent them in Asia; however, only the team that finished top of their highest league are sent.

Sponsorship

Awards

Top scorer

Most valuable player

Goalkeeper of the year

Fair play trophy

Criticism

The Pakistan Football Federation has been severely criticized for its non-serious attempts to increase the quality of football in the country. The PFF cites claims of lack of funds from the government, but these claims are largely rejected by players and owners who agree that the PFF was severely mismanaged and corrupt. The league had an "amateurish" setup according to critics, which they claimed did not allow players to develop to the level they were capable of. Pakistani clubs used to be considered as lightweight in comparison to other Asian clubs and defeats in the AFC President's Cup suggest that this may have some foundation. Another main criticism is the number of games played over a short period of time. One team could be forced to play three games in five days due to the congested fixture list. The PFF's attempts to cut costs have led to players becoming exhausted.

References

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