Pakistan Premier League

For the future cricket tournament, see Pakistan Premier League (Twenty20).

Pakistan Premier League

File:PakistanPL.png
Founded	2004
Country	Pakistan
Confederation	AFC
Number of teams	16
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	PFF League
Domestic cup(s)	National Football Challenge Cup
International cup(s)	AFC President's Cup
Current champions	KRL F.C. (2011)
Most championships	PIA F.C. (9 titles)
Website	http://www.pff.com.pk/
Current: 2011 season

The Pakistan Premier League (PPL), also known as the Pakistan Premier Football League is a Pakistani professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Pakistan football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Pakistan Football Federation League. Teams play 30 matches each with 240 matches played in total.

The competition was established in 2004 following the decision of the Pakistan Football Federation to create a league to improve the standard of football played and to progress the national team’s performance.

The current champions are KRL F.C., who won the title in the 2011 season.

History

Origins

Pakistan’s first National Football Championship was played between May 28 to June 5 in 1948 at Karachi. The winners were Sindh Red, beating their fellow provincial team Sindh Blue.

It was a knock-out competition, which remained this way until it was replaced by the Football League in 2004. Football in Pakistan remained underdeveloped for decades due to mismanagement, lack of support and corruption. The Pakistan national team suffered as a result, and from once being one of the strongest sides in Asia, became one of the weakest in the world.

Foundation

In August 2003, with the support of FIFA under their ‘Goal Project’ to build new training facilities and offices for the PFF at the headquarters in Lahore, and new management within the Pakistan Football Federation, Pakistan restructured the national football system. The National Football Championship was replaced in 2004 by the national football league, called the National Division A Football League. This contained 16 teams from around Pakistan, the first time Pakistan had a national league.

A second division was also created, formally known as National League Division B Football League before being named the PFF National League. This initially contained 5 teams but now has expanded to 12 teams. The two bottom teams from the A league would to be relegated to the PFF league, while the top 2 teams in the PFF league would be promoted in their place.

WAPDA F.C. were the first national league winners, pushing Pakistan Army F.C. in second place.

Because of funding problems, relegation and promotion was an issue, as was the teams continued participation. This led to further changes in Pakistani football. The following year, after more reconstruction of the national game, the National Division A, was renamed the Pakistan Premier League. The Pakistan Premier League became a 12 club league, with the bottom two being relegated. In the 2005/06 season, football was played over the winter months instead of the summer.

In 2007/08 the league expanded to 14 teams. Fixtures were now held at 1:00 and 3:00 pm respectively on home and away basis. Then for the 2010/2011 season the league was set to 16 teams.

Structure

The Pakistan Premier League is professional league operated by the Pakistan Football Federation. The PFF oversee all aspects of the league and make unilateral decisions over any changes to the format, funding and sponsorship.

Competition

There are 16 clubs in the PPL. During the course of a season (which lasts from November to February) each club plays the others twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents for a total of 30 games for each club per season. Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, then goal difference and then goals scored. If a side fails to turn up, the opposition will be granted a 2-0 win. At the end of each season, the club with the most points is crowned as champion. If points are equal the goal difference and goals scored then determines the winner. If still equal they are deemed to occupy the same position; if the champions, teams for relegation or qualification for other competitions thus cannot be decided, a series of play-off matches are played between the affected teams at neutral venues. The two lowest placed teams are relegated into the Pakistan Football Federation League and the top two teams from the PFFL are promoted in their place.

Qualification for Asian competitions

The top team in the league automatically qualifies for the AFC President's Cup, the weakest continental club competition in Asia. 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.

Finances

Though thee league is professional, many as clubs are financially weak. The PFF also lacks funds, and occasionally has to prop up other clubs to keep them going. This is why most clubs are run by companies or organisations, these clubs are known as departmental teams.

Rs 3,640,000 will be distributed among participants as bonus. Each match will have Rs 20,000 as bonus. The winner of the match will get Rs 15,000 and the loser Rs 5,000. The champions will get Rs 700,000, the runners-up will receive Rs 500,000 while the third position team will receive Rs 400,000. The most valuable player (MVP) will get Rs 150,000 while the top scorer and best goalkeeper will pocket Rs 100,000 each. The club winning the Fair Play trophy will receive Rs 100,000.

Players

PPL clubs have almost complete freedom to sign whatever number and category of players they wish. There is no team or individual salary cap, no squad size limit, no age restrictions other than those applied by general employment law; however teams are restricted to not more than 2 foreign players in the squad for the season and there are only a few foreign players in the league.

Players move on free transfers as contracts only last for a year, but some contracts can be as long as three years, and the transfer fees are small. Due to the nature of the league, players tend to work for the company/organisation they play for during the off season. Top players can command respectable football salaries.

Criticisms

One of the main criticisms leveled at the PPL is the number of games played over a short space of time. One team can be forced to play 3 games in a week due to the congested fixture list. The PFF’s attempts to cut costs have led to players becoming exhausted.

Another major criticism is that the league has an amateurish setup which isn’t allowing players to develop. The Pakistani club teams are considered lightweight in comparison to other Asian club sides and defeats by the opposition in the AFC President's Cup suggest that this may have some foundation.

The lack of independent clubs is also an issue, few can afford to play players at the highest level and so there is a dominance of departmental teams run by the sports division government agencies and private business.

2011 season

The League is set to be held in around eight cities of Karachi, Lahore, Chaman, Nushki, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Sahiwal and Faisalabad.

PPL 2011 clubs

Karachi

• KPT F.C. - KPT Benazir Sports Complex
• PIA F.C. - CDGK Stadium
• NBP F.C. - Korangi Baloch Stadium, Sharafi
• HBL F.C. - Peoples Sports Complex
• KESC F.C. - Peoples Sports Complex

Lahore

• PEL F.C. (Relegated) - Model Town Football Academy Ground
• WAPDA F.C. - Punjab Stadium

Faisalabad

• PMC Athletico - Railways Ground

Chaman

• Afghan F.C. - Jamal Nasir Stadium
• Baloch F.C. - Nushki Stadium

Rawalpindi/Islamabad

• KRL F.C. : Municipal Stadium
• Pakistan Army F.C. - Municipal Stadium
• Pakistan Navy F.C. - Municipal Stadium

Peshawar

• PAF F.C. - Qayyum Stadium

Quetta

• Muslim F.C. - Sadiq Shaheed Stadium
• Pakistan Police F.C. (Relegated) - Sadiq Shaheed Stadium

Awards

Top Scorer

Year	Player/s	Club	Goals
2004	Arif Mehmood	WAPDA F.C.	20
2005	Imran Hussain	Pakistan Army F.C.	21
2006/07	Arif Mehmood	WAPDA F.C.
2007/08	Arif Mehmood	WAPDA F.C.	21
2008/09	Muhammad Rasool	KRL F.C.	22
2009/10	Arif Mehmood	WAPDA F.C.	20
2010/11	Arif Mehmood	WAPDA F.C.	21
2011	Jadeed Khan	Afghan F.C.	22

Most Valuable Player

Year	Player	Club
2004	Khuda Bakhsh	WAPDA F.C.
2005	Adeel Ahmed	PTLC F.C.
2007/08	Mohammad Imran	Pakistan Army F.C.
2008/09	Samar Ishaq	KRL F.C.
2009/10	Nasrullah Khan	PIA F.C.
2010/11	Muhammad Haji	PIA F.C.
2011	Samar Ishaq	KRL F.C.

Goalkeeper of the year

Year	Player	Club
2004	Jaffar Khan	Pakistan Army F.C.
2005	Jaffar Khan	Pakistan Army F.C.
2007/08	Amir Qureshi	KRL F.C.
2008/09	Abdul Aziz	WAPDA F.C.
2009/10	Ghulam Nabi	KRL F.C.
2010/11	Muhammad Omer	KESC F.C.
2011	Jaffar Khan	Pakistan Army F.C.

Fair Play Trophy

Year	Club
2005	PTLC F.C.
2007/08	Pakistan Television F.C.
2008/09	Afghan F.C.
2010/11	Afghan F.C.
2011	PIA F.C.

Pakistan Premier League Championships

Season	Champions	Runners-up	Third place
2004	WAPDA F.C.	Pakistan Army F.C.	KRL F.C.
2005	Pakistan Army F.C.	WAPDA F.C.	KRL F.C.
2006/07	Pakistan Army F.C.	WAPDA F.C.	KRL F.C.
2007/08	WAPDA F.C.	Pakistan Army F.C.	KRL F.C.
2008/09	WAPDA F.C.	Pakistan Army F.C.	KRL F.C.
2009/10	KRL F.C.	Pakistan Army F.C.	WAPDA F.C.
2010/11	WAPDA F.C.	KRL F.C.	PIA F.C.
2011	KRL F.C.	Afghan F.C.	Pakistan Army F.C.

Pakistan National Championships

Season	Champions	Runners-up
1948	Sindh Red	Sindh Blue
1950	Balochistan Red	Sindh
1952	Punjab	NWFP
1953	Punjab	NWFP Blue
1954	Punjab Blue	Pakistan Railways F.C.
1955	Punjab	NWFP
1956	Balochistan	Pakistan Railways White F.C.
1957	Punjab	East Pakistan White
1958	Punjab Blue	Pakistan Railways F.C.
1959	Balochistan	East Pakistan
1960	East Pakistan	Karachi White
1961/62	Dacca	Karachi Blue
1962	Dacca	Karachi
1963	Karachi	Pakistan Railways F.C.
1964/65	Karachi	Pakistan Railways F.C.
1966	Karachi	Pakistan Railways F.C.
1968	Peshawar	Lahore
1969	Pakistan Railways F.C.	Karachi
1969/70	Chittagong	Peshawar
1971	PIA F.C.	Karachi
1972	PIA F.C.	Peshawar White
1973	Karachi Yellow	Rawalpindi
1975 (1)	PIA F.C.	Punjab A
1975 (2)	Sindh Red	Balochistan Red
1976	PIA F.C.	Pakistan Railways F.C.
1978	PIA F.C.	Sindh Red
1979	Karachi Red	PIA F.C.
1980	Karachi Red	Pakistan Army F.C.
1981	PIA F.C.	PAF F.C.
1982	HBL F.C.	Pakistan Railways F.C.
1983	WAPDA F.C.	HBL F.C.
1984	Pakistan Railways F.C.	WAPDA F.C.
1985	Quetta	PIA F.C.
1986	PAF F.C.	PIA F.C.
1987	CTM F.C.	KPT F.C.
1989 (1)	Punjab Red	Pakistan Railways F.C.
1989 (2)	PIA F.C.	SGP F.C
1990	Punjab Red	PIA F.C.
1991	WAPDA F.C.	HBL F.C.
1992/93	PIA F.C.	Pakistan Army F.C.
1993/94	Pakistan Army F.C.	WAPDA F.C.
1994	CTM F.C.	WAPDA F.C.
1995	Pakistan Army F.C.	ABL F.C.
1997 (1)	ABL F.C.	PIA F.C.
1997 (2)	PIA F.C.	ABL F.C.
1999	ABL F.C.	Pakistan Navy F.C.
2000	ABL F.C.	HBL F.C.
2001	WAPDA F.C.	KRL F.C.
2003	WAPDA F.C.	Pakistan Army F.C.