Australian rules football in Pakistan

Australian rules football in Pakistan
Country Pakistan
Governing body AFL Pakistan
National team Pakistan
Nickname(s) Dragoons
Registered players 100
Clubs 6
Club competitions
  • Tanzeem-e-Insidad-e-Manshyiate Swords
  • Swat Public School Eagles
  • Jehanzeb College Dolphins
  • GHS3 Bulls
  • Peshawar Colors
  • University of Malakand

Australian rules football has been played in Pakistan since 2006, starting with the creation of the Australian Rules Football Federation of Pakistan, based in the Swat Valley city of Mingora. In 2007, the ARFFP renamed themselves to AFL Pakistan, aligning themselves with other football bodies worldwide and creating a more attractive organisation for potential sponsors.

History

AFL Pakistan was formed on 1 April 2006 by Tanzeem-E-Insidad-E-Manshyiate. Mumtaz Ali Khan was instrumental in setting up the initial competition and became the organisation's first President. In November 2006, Mumtaz Ali Khan opted to vacate the role of President and take on a more active role as Programme Development Officer, in the hope of further encouraging the sport's growth throughout Pakistan. Habib ul Haq, Vice President at the time, took up the role of President.

Currently AFL Pakistan has held one round-robin competition in Mingora with four clubs attending. Since then, two more clubs have been established, one in Peshawar and one at the University of Malakand. Plans have been established for mirror competitions elsewhere in Pakistan as well in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Clubs

There are six football teams in Pakistan at the moment, all located in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, which include:

National team

The Pakistani national side are known as the Dragoons and have played their first game on 16th of August 2014 against India. The match was won by Pakistan.

Sources

External links