Islamabad
\nMaria Khan in action during the Pakistan women\u2019s football team camp at the Punjab Stadium.
\nIt\u2019s going to be some international debut for Maria Khan at the SAFF Women\u2019s Championship next month. In her very first game donning Pakistan colours, she will also be wearing the captain\u2019s armband.
\nMaria was named captain of Pakistan\u2019s first women\u2019s football team in almost eight years when the Pakistan Football Federation Normalisation Committee announced its 23-member squad for the regional tournament in Nepal on Friday.
\nThe tournament kicks off on Sept 6 and Maria\u2019s international bow is set to come against India the following day after FIFA on Friday lifted the suspension on the All India Football Federation.
\nHowever, Maria is not allowed to express what it means to her just yet. The PFF NC has apparently issued a strict gag order on the players and Maria didn\u2019t disclose how she felt at being handed the responsibility of leading the team when asked for comment by Dawn.
\n\u201cAs of right now I\u2019m in competition mode and would politely defer you to the coaching staff for any immediate feedback,\u201d she said in a written message.
\nThe PFF spokesperson told Dawn that the NC had a \u201cpolicy in place on the coaches\u2019 recommendation to prevent players from speaking to media personnel\u201d.
\n\u201cHowever, for an immediate interview or quote, the NC can be contacted,\u201d the spokesperson added.
\nNC member ShahidKhokhar, who used to handle the media matters previously, told Dawn that \u201cthe players, especially the captain, would be made available soon and they had been kept away from the media to help them focus on their football\u201d.
\nThere was no response from Khokhar on how interaction with the media shifts players\u2019 focus away from game. In the news release sent by Khokhar announcing the squad, there was also no reaction from Maria.
\nIn what seems to be throwback to the policy that was prevalent during the time of the previous PFF setup where interview requests were routinely denied and players were sanctioned for speaking to the media, the moment was lost for UAE-based Maria to express on her journey to getting into the team and finally being named captain.
\nMaria went from being goalkeeper in the United States to midfielder in the United Arab Emirates while also representing Wapda in the National Championships in 2018 and 2019 with her performances bringing her into national reckoning.
\nBut Pakistan football has been beset with institutional crisis in the PFF and forced FIFA to install a Normalisation Committee to settle the affairs of the federation.
\nIt has impacted women\u2019s football most with the national team having last played in 2014. Only seven players from that squad remain in the current side, including vice-captain Malika-e-Noor and former captain and star striker Hajra Khan.
\nThe SAFF Women\u2019s Championship will end that long drought and the PFF NC has also roped in UK-based midfielder Nadia Khan.
\nNadia, who plays for Doncaster Rovers Belles, is due to join the squad in Nepal.
\nThe NC had earlier appointed AdeelRizki as the head coach for the team and he along with his assistant WalidJaved Khan had been holding a training camp for the team since the first week of August in Lahore. They had held trials previously to shortlist 35 players for the camp.
\nLike Maria, Adeel too hasn\u2019t been made available to the media and his announcement as head coach only came through a post on social media.
\nThe PFF NC has also not explained why Adeel, who holds a UEFA \u2018B\u2019 license but has never coached a team in either the men\u2019s Pakistan Premier Football League or the National Women\u2019s Championship, was appointed.
\nThe only reasoning the PFF NC has given is that it is making a \u201ccoaching panel and officials from it will be picked and appointed for national team assignments\u201d.
\nSquad: AlinaIspahani, AnmolHira, AtiqaNasir, Ghazala Amir, Hajra Khan, Khadija Kazmi, MalihaNasir, Malika-e-Noor (vice-captain), Maria Khan (captain), MarviBaig, MishalBhatti, Nadia Khan, Nisha Ashraf, NizaliaSiddiqui, RameenFareed, Roshnan Ali, SaharZaman, Sara Khan, ShaniShahida, ShanzayNazir, SuhaHirani, SyedaMahpara and ZulfiaNazir.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Islamabad Maria Khan in action during the Pakistan women\u2019s football team camp at the Punjab Stadium. It\u2019s going to be some international debut for Maria Khan at the SAFF Women\u2019s Championship next month. In her very first game donning Pakistan colours, she will also be wearing the captain\u2019s armband. Maria was named captain of Pakistan\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":280005,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-279996","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n