Karachi:The 28th edition of National Football Challenge Cup will roll into action on Friday (July 19) with 16 teams vying for top honors.
The tournament matches will be played at Tehmas Khan Stadium and Qayyum Football Stadium in Peshawar. The tournament offers a prize purse of Rs 1.2 million.
The teams participating in the tournament are Khan Research Laboratories, Pakistan Air Force, Sui Southern Gas Company, Army, WAPDA, National Bank of Pakistan, Navy, Civil Aviation Authority, Karachi Port Trust, Railway, Police, Karachi United, Pakistan Television, Asia Ghee Mills, PFF Tigers and Masha Club.
The 16 teams are equally divided into four groups. Top two teams from each group will qualify for the quarterfinals.
Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) has appointed Technical Study Group (TSG), who will select 40 top performers during the tournament, which will serve as the preliminary squad ahead of the SAFF tournament.
PFF selectors picked top performing players from National Inter City Football Championship 2019, which was held earlier this year. The PFF Tigers team featuring in the upcoming National Challenge Cup consists of those players.
The National Challenge Cup, which is supposed to be an annual event of the PFF, has been held intermittently 27 times in the last 40 years since 1979.
KRL is the most successful side with six titles. Meanwhile, Pakistan Air Force will be seen defending title during this upcoming edition.