F.P. Report
KARACHI: Farah Nurzahirah struck the match-winner as Singapore edged Pakistan women’s football team to win the lone friendly match 1-0.
The two sides put on an engaging battle in the lone friendly, which remained in the balance till half-time.
The home side then launched a lethal attack in the second half and got the reward in the 81st minute when Farah Noor Zahra fired the ball into the nets.
Pakistan made desperate efforts to neutralize Singapore’s lead in the dying minutes but it remained intact. Notably, Maria Khan-led Pakistan women’s football team reached Singapore on Tuesday morning.
The national team was originally scheduled to play two friendly matches against Singapore. However, a delay in the issuance of the No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Pakistan Sports Board (PCB) cut the tour short to just one fixture.
According to the details, the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) received the NOC on July 13 after Shaza Fatima, special assistant to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, intervened in the matter.
The PSB had demonstrated its incapacity to process the NOC for the national women’s football team’s tour of Singapore.
However, according to the PFF, the Football Association of Singapore sent an official confirmation of the tour on 26th June. Consequently, the PFF requested the NOC by writing a formal letter to PSB a day later but it was delivered after the Eid holidays.
A similar deadlock occurred between PFF and PSB when the Pakistan men’s football team had to wait long for NOCs to tour Mauritius for the four-nation cup and India for South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship.