Pakistan Premier League

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Pakistan Premier League
Pakistan Premier League logo.jpg
Organising bodyPakistan Football Federation
Founded1948; 74 years ago (1948) (officially)
2004 (current format)
CountryPakistan Pakistan
ConfederationAFC
Number of teams12 (2021)
Level on pyramid1
Relegation toPFF League
Domestic cup(s)PFF National Challenge Cup
International cup(s)AFC Cup
Current championsKhan Research Laboratories (5th title)
(2018–19)
Most championshipsKhan Research Laboratories (5 titles)
TV partnersPTV Sports
Geo Super
Websitepff.com.pk
Current: 2021–22 Pakistan Premier League

The Pakistan Premier League (PPL; Urdu: پاکستان پریمیئر لیگ) is a Pakistani professional league for men's 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 Football Federation League.

Since inception of the Pakistan Premier League in 2004, four clubs have won the title: Khan Research Laboratories (5) WAPDA (4), Pakistan Army (2) and K-Electric (1).[1] The current champions are Khan Research Laboratories, who won the title in 2018–19.

History[]

Pakistan’s first professional football league began on 28 May 1948 as the "National Football Championship". The league was a knock-out competition, which remained as the top football league in the country until 2004 with the introduction of the Pakistan Premier League. National Football Championship featured teams representing cities or provinces, unlike current format where departmental teams play, with exception of Balochistan clubs (including Afghan Chaman, Baloch Nushki, Baloch Quetta and Muslim which represents the city of Chaman, Nushki and Quetta respectively, National Football League also featured teams from Dhaka (Dacca FC) and Chittagong (Chittagong FC) from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Dacca FC won two back-to-back leagues, and Chittagong FC won league only once.

National League[]

In August 2003, major restructuring was undertaken by the Pakistan Football Federation with support of FIFA's Goal Programme. Several new training facilities were built across the country and a new Pakistan Football Federation Head Office was built in Lahore. Under new management, the Pakistan Football Federation restructured the National Football Championship and in 2004 introduced the National League Division A Football League (which contained 12 clubs across Pakistan) and the National League Division B Football League (containing 5 clubs).

Premier League[]

In 2006–07 season, the National League Division A Football League was renamed to the Pakistan Premier League while the National League Division B Football League was renamed to the PFF League. In the following 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.[2]

"Punjab Three" Dominance[]

Results of the 'Punjab Three' during the 2000s
Season KRL AFC WFC
2004-05 3 2 1
2005-06 3 1 2
2006–07 3 1 2
2007–08 3 2 1
2008–09 3 2 1
2009–10 1 2 3
2010–11 2 7 1
2011–12 1 3 4
2012–13 1 4 11
2013–14 1 5 3
2014–15 6 2 5
2018–19 1 4 5
Top three 11 8 8
out of 11
  League champions
  Pakistan National Football Challenge Cup winners
  Pakistan National Football Challenge Cup runners-up

Since the beginning of Pakistan Premier League, Punjab clubs has been dominating with Khan Research Laboratories, Pakistan Army (from Rawalpindi) and WAPDA (from Lahore) winning league for combined ten times in the span of eleven years, with Khan Research Laboratories and WAPDA winning four times each and Pakistan Army winning two time The "Punjab Three" also dominated the domestic cup, where Khan Research Laboratories won the cup six times (with four consecutive cup wins in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 editions) and were runners-up in 2008 edition, while other two clubs did not dominate the cup, as only WAPDA being runners-up in 2005 and 2018 edition. Arif Mehmood of WAPDA is currently the top scorer of Pakistan Premier League with 102 goals, winning top scorer awards five times.

Current clubs (2021)[]

Team Location Stadium Capacity
Civil Aviation Authority Karachi Korangi Baloch Stadium 5,000
Huma Islamabad
Karachi United Karachi Karachi United Stadium 2,000
Khan Research Laboratories Rawalpindi KRL Ground 8,000
Lyallpur Faisalabad Railways Ground 10,000
Muslim Quetta Sadiq Shaheed Stadium 5,000
Pakistan Airforce Islamabad PAF Complex 2,000
Pakistan Army Rawalpindi Army Stadium 7,000
Pakistan Navy Islamabad PNS Karsaz Stadium 5,000
Sui Northern Gas Lahore Railway Stadium 5,000
Sui Southern Gas Karachi Karachi Port Trust Stadium 5,000
WAPDA Lahore Punjab Stadium 10,000

Champions[]

List of champions by season[]

Edition Season Champions Runners-up Third place
1st 2004-05 WAPDA Pakistan Army Khan Research Laboratories
2nd 2005-06 Pakistan Army WAPDA Khan Research Laboratories
3rd 2006–07 Pakistan Army WAPDA Khan Research Laboratories
4th 2007–08 WAPDA Pakistan Army Khan Research Laboratories
5th 2008–09 WAPDA Pakistan Army Khan Research Laboratories
6th 2009–10 Khan Research Laboratories Pakistan Army WAPDA
7th 2010–11 WAPDA Khan Research Laboratories Pakistan Airlines
8th 2011–12 Khan Research Laboratories Afghan Chaman Pakistan Army
9th 2012–13 Khan Research Laboratories Karachi Electric Supply Corporation Muslim
10th 2013–14 Khan Research Laboratories Karachi Electric Supply Corporation WAPDA
11th 2014–15 K-Electric Pakistan Army Pakistan Airforce
12th 2018–19 Khan Research Laboratories Pakistan Airforce Sui Southern Gas
13th 2021–22

Most successful clubs since 2004[]

Team Winners Runners-up Third Place
Khan Research Laboratories 5 (2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2018–19) 1 (2010–11) 5 (2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09)
WAPDA 3 (2004–05, 2007–08, 2008–09) 2 (2005–06, 2006–07) 2 (2009–10, 2013–14)
Pakistan Army 2 (2005–06, 2006–07) 5 (2004–05, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2014–15) 1 (2011–12)
K-Electric 1 (2014–15) 2 (2012–13, 2013–14) —
Pakistan Airforce — 1 (2018–19) 1 (2014–15)
Afghan Chaman — 1 (2011–12) —
Pakistan Airlines — — 1 (2010–11)
Muslim — — 1 (2012–13)
Sui Southern Gas — — 1 (2018–19)

Ranking[]

Main article: AFC Club Competitions Ranking

As of 26 August 2021[3]

Ranking Member Association Club Points 100% ACL 2023
(GS+PO) 		AFC Cup 2023
(GS+PO)
2021 2020 Mvmt 2018 2019 2020 2021 Total
41 42 1 +1 Brunei Brunei 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0 0+1
41 42 1 +1 Guam Guam 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0 0+1
41 42 1 +1 Northern Mariana Islands Northern Mariana Islands 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0 0+1
41 42 1 +1 Pakistan Pakistan 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0 0+1
41 42 1 +1 East Timor Timor-Leste 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0 0+1
41 42 1 +1 Yemen Yemen 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0 0+1

Structure[]

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

Professionalization[]

The Pakistan Football Federation have announced they will try and professionalize the league by introducing city-based teams and getting rid of "departmental" teams, which, although financially stable, do not have much of a fan following.[4] This has led to a more professional football structure in Pakistan.

Competition format[]

Competition[]

There are currently 14 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 26 games for each club, with a total of 210 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 qualifies for the AFC President's Cup, the weakest continental club competition in Asia until 2014, and the AFC Cup in 2016. 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[]

Period Sponsor Notes Ref.
2009–10 KASB Bank Pakistan Football Federation signed a five-year partnership deal with KASB Bank, from 2009 to 2013. However the deal was cancelled after just one season. [5][6]

Players[]

Pakistan Premier League 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. 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 they play for during the off season and top players can command respectable football salaries. Players that earn a nominal salary need second jobs to support themselves.

Media[]

PTV Sports was the official media partner of Pakistan Premier League. It showed live matches of the league while Geo Super showed highlights.

Awards[]

Top Scorer[]

Year Player/s Club Goals Ref.
2004-05 Pakistan Arif Mehmood WAPDA 20 [7]
2005-06 Pakistan Imran Hussain Pakistan Army 21 [8]
2006-07 Pakistan Arif Mehmood WAPDA 18 [9]
2007-08 Pakistan Arif Mehmood WAPDA 21 [10]
2008-09 Pakistan Muhammad Rasool Khan Research Laboratories 22 [11]
2009-10 Pakistan Arif Mehmood WAPDA 20 [12]
2010-11 Pakistan Arif Mehmood WAPDA 21 [13]
2011-12 Pakistan Jadeed Khan Afghan Chaman 22 [14]
2012-13 Pakistan Kaleemullah Khan Khan Research Laboratories 35 [15]
2013-14 Pakistan Muhammad Karachi Port Trust 27 [16]
2014-15 Pakistan Muhammad Rasool K-Electric 22 [17]
2018-19 Pakistan Ansar Abbas Pakistan Army 15 [18]

Most Valuable Player[]

Year Player/s Club Ref.
2004-05 Pakistan Khuda Bakhsh WAPDA [7]
2005-06 Pakistan Adeel Ahmed Pakistan Telecommunication [8]
2006-07 Pakistan Adeel Ahmed Pakistan Telecommunication [9]
2007-08 Pakistan Muhammad Imran Pakistan Army [10]
2008-09 Pakistan Samar Ishaq Khan Research Laboratories [11]
2009-10 Pakistan Nasrullah Khan Pakistan Airlines [12]
2010-11 Pakistan Muhammad Haji Pakistan Airlines [13]
2011-12 Pakistan Samar Ishaq Khan Research Laboratories [14]
2012-13 Pakistan Saeed Ahmed Muslim [15]
2013-14 Pakistan Kaleemullah Khan Khan Research Laboratories [16]
2014-15 Pakistan Mansoor Khan Pakistan Airforce [17]
Pakistan Muhammad Mujahid Pakistan Airforce [17]
2018-19 Pakistan Muhammad Naeem Civil Aviation Authority [18]

Goalkeeper of the year[]

Year Player/s Club Ref.
2004-05 Pakistan Jaffar Khan Pakistan Army [7]
2005-06 Pakistan Jaffar Khan Pakistan Army [8]
2006-07 Pakistan Jaffar Khan Pakistan Army [9]
2007-08 Pakistan Jaffar Khan Pakistan Army [10]
2008-09 Pakistan Abdul Aziz WAPDA [11]
2009-10 Pakistan Ghulam Nabi Khan Research Laboratories [12]
2010-11 Pakistan Muhammad Omer Karachi Electric Supply Corporation [13]
2011-12 Pakistan Jaffar Khan Pakistan Army [14]
2012-13 Pakistan Jaffar Khan Pakistan Army [15]
2013-14 Pakistan Muzammil Hussain WAPDA [16]
2014-15 Pakistan Muzammil Hussain WAPDA [17]
2018-19 Pakistan Tanvir Mumtaz Khan Research Laboratories [18]

Fair Play Trophy[]

Year Club Ref.
2004-05 Pakistan Telecommunication [7]
2005-06 Pakistan Telecommunication [8]
2006-07 Afghan Chaman [9]
2007-08 Pakistan Television [10]
2008-09 Afghan Chaman [11]
2009-10 Pakistan Airlines [12]
2010-11 Afghan Chaman [13]
2011-12 Pakistan Airlines [14]
2012-13 Zarai Taraqiati [15]
2013-14 Khan Research Laboratories [16]
2014-15 Muslim [17]
2018-19 Not Awarded [18]

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, however these claims are largely rejected by players and owners alike who all agree that the PFF is severely mismanaged and corrupt. The league has an "amateurish" setup according to critics, which they claim don't allow players to develop to the level they are capable of. Pakistani clubs are considered lightweight in comparison to other Asian clubs and defeats by the opposition in the AFC President's Cup suggest that this may have some foundation. Another main criticism leveled at the PPL is the number of games played over a short period 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.

Departmental Teams[]

The lack of independent clubs is also a major issue many football fans in Pakistan are annoyed with. Since the PFF has not made serious attempts to lure large businesses to invest in and/or sponsor teams, the league has a dominance of departmental teams run by the sports division government agencies and private businesses. This has resulted in a serious lack of public interest since nobody is willing to pay money to see departments play. However, critics suggest that if actual city-based teams are promoted with departments acting as sponsors, a fan following may develop. This is clearly evident with Afghan Chaman which has a large fan following and can see up-to 12,000 people attending matches.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "FIFA, AFC committed to promoting soccer in Pakistan: PFF president". Nation.com.pk. 25 February 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  2. ^ "PFF approves two more teams in Premier League". Nation.com.pk. Retrieved 3 March 2014.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ "AFC Club Competitions Ranking". Asian Football Confederation.
  4. ^ "PFF approves two more teams in Premier League". Nation.com.pk. Archived from the original on 30 September 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  5. ^ "KASB to sponsor Premier Football League [The News]". footballpakistan.com. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  6. ^ "Riaz Ahmed: Sponsor-less PFF League concludes without representation from Sindh and Khyber Pakhtoon-Khuwa". footballpakistan.com. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  7. ^ a b c d "Pakistan 2004 (National League and Regional Championships)". rsssf.com.
  8. ^ a b c d "Pakistan 2005 (National Tournaments)". rsssf.com.
  9. ^ a b c d "Pakistan 2006/07 (National Tournaments)". rsssf.com.
  10. ^ a b c d "Pakistan 2007/08 (National Tournaments)". rsssf.com.
  11. ^ a b c d "Pakistan 2008/09 (National Tournaments)". rsssf.com.
  12. ^ a b c d "Pakistan 2009/10 (National Tournaments)". rsssf.com.
  13. ^ a b c d "KESC secure fourth position as PPL 2010 comes to an end". footballpakistan.com.
  14. ^ a b c d "KRL has lifted the title of 8th Pakistan Premier Football League". footballpakistan.com.
  15. ^ a b c d "PIA hold champions KRL to draw as league ends". footballpakistan.com.
  16. ^ a b c d "Pakistan Premier League: KRL hold KESC and lift title". footballpakistan.com.
  17. ^ a b c d e "After four long years, K-Electric lift PPFL trophy [Express Tribune]". footballpakistan.com.
  18. ^ a b c d "Contentious PPFL season ends with controversially-promoted team denied title [Dawn]". footballpakistan.com.

External links[]

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