Mushtaq XI FC (Usmanabad) edged past Noorani Sports (New Karachi) 4-2 on penalties after 0-0 draw to reach quarter-finals of 6th Saqib Kazmi Memorial Floodlit Football Tournament being hosted at Colony Star FC Ground in New Karachi. Both sides failed to convert golden chances in the game, with Noori Sports Shakir Pyarey seeing his spot kick being stopped well by Mushtaq XI goalie Rasheed in 26th minute.
In penalties, Mushtaq XI had Shanbay, Irfan, Khalil, and Rasheed to thank for converting their chances while only Nadeem and Bilal could convert for Noorani Sports. Mushtaq XI goalie Rasheed once again stopped three vital kicks from Hafiz Tahir, Abdus Sattar, and Shaukat to send his side through to next stage. Referees were Babar Khan, Fareed Ahmed and Saad Kazmi, while match commissioner was Khalid Majeed. Next game will be between Golden Afghan and Malik Star.
The former secretary of Zonal FA Karachi Central, Ibn-e-Abbas, continued his war of words with the current Zone East FA chairman Abdul Malik Khan of deliberately sabotaging the Sindh FA election results by using his influence on Jan Muhammad to force Zone West FA in getting stay order from court citing ‘election irregularities’.
Ibn-e-Abbas stated that Abdul Malik Khan’s ‘notorious reputation’ has jeopardised football many times in Karachi across Zone East and Zone Central. Abdul Malik Khan had allegedly coerced the former SFA chairman Ghulam Abbas Baloch in passing rulings in his own personal favour for political gain, however the new SFA supremo Khadim Ali Shah will not tolerate such gross misconduct.
Ibn-e-Abbas revealed that back in 1999, the secretary of Imtiaz Sports in Abdul Aziz ran against Abdul Malik Khan in zonal elections despite having a numerical disadvantage because of Abdul Malik’s chairmanship posts at dozens of local football clubs, but the way Abdul Aziz was treated by Abdul Malik Khan supporters as a result of contesting the elections is on the record.