Diya W.F.C.
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Diya Women Football Club (), also referred to as Diya WFC, Diya FC, Diya, Diya Women FC, or DWFC, is a Pakistani
women's association football Women's association football, more commonly known as women's football or women's soccer, is the team sport of association football played by women. It is played at the professional level in multiple countries, and about 200 national teams partic ...
and
futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...
club based in
Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...
. ''Diya'' means lamp in
Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...
. It is the country's oldest women's football club, established in 2002. Diya WFC has no affiliation to any men's club.


History

Diya WFC was founded in 2002 by Sadia Sheikh, a
physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...
teacher, founder and secretary general of Sindh Women Football Association since 2006 and first
FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
-certified football administrator in Pakistan, in 2011, and the only one so far. It was recognized by the
Pakistan Football Federation The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) is the national governing body of association football in Football in Pakistan, Pakistan. It is a member of FIFA, the international governing body of Association football, football, and affiliated to the A ...
(PFF) in 2006. Since 2010, Diya WFC is a permanent member of the PFF committee, among 29 members. In September 2015, Diya WFC was the first women's football club to sign an agreement with Aspirations Pakistan Football Alliance (APFA) and follow their certified curriculum to improve standards of training for both
coaches Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...
and players. Trainings take place on a ground located in Clifton, next to Bagh Ibne Qasim beachside park. Like other independent women's clubs in Pakistan, Diya WFC has neither
sponsorship Sponsoring something (or someone) is the act of supporting an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services. The individual or group that provides the support, similar to a benefactor, is k ...
nor affiliation to a corporation or a
public administration Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the ...
, and is therefore financially supported by the owner, family and friends. Diya WFC is also a competition organizer, such as the 1st Chase Up All-Karachi Under 23 Girls Futsal Tournament 2021, held in February 2021 in partnership with the Sindh Women Futsal Association. Beside women's football, Diya WFC is a football promoter, offering mixed gender practice or setting up academies for children across
Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...
. In 2011, Diya WFC was featured for its pioneer role in a documentary produced by the
UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...
.


Players

As of July 2017, 2,000 girls and women have been trained by Diya. In 2018, students and players age range was from 6 to 27.


Present players

Kiran Qureshi is the only Diya's player to be a member of the
Pakistan women's national football team The Pakistan women's national football team is the female representative in international Women's association football, women's football for Pakistan. The team was formed in 2010 and has not yet qualified for the AFC Women's Asian Cup or the FI ...
(PWNFT), as attacker, since 2020. Shumaila Gulab Hussain, Marium Zehri and Zunaira Shah played for the PWNFT and represented their country at the
South Asian Football Federation South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) is an association of the football playing nations in South Asia. Incorporated in 1997, it is a regional subsidiary of Asian Football Confederation. The members of the association are Bangladesh, Bhutan, A ...
and
Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in most countries and territories in Asia. The AFC was formed in 1954. It has 47 members. The Asian Ladies Football Confederation ( ...
events in
Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...
and
Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...
in 2018. Shumaila Gulab Hussain and Marium Zehri are
defenders Defender(s) or The Defender(s) may refer to: * Defense (military) * Defense (sports) ** Defender (association football) Arts and entertainment Film, television, and theatre Film * ''The Defender'' (1989 film), a Canadian documentary * ''The D ...
within the under-16 PWNFT.


Past players

Misha Dawood was a 19-year-old Diya WFC
midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...
and a second year
UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...
student who died in a plane crash on 28 July 2010. She was considered a "promising star". On 4 August 2010, the best woman player award of the National Women Football Championship was renamed in her honor by the PFF. The National Women Under-16 Championship was also renamed in her honor. Hajra Khan, forward and
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
of PWNFT, played with Diya as a professional from 2008 to 2014, prior to moving to Balochistan United W.F.C. Mehwish Khan, also playing as defender for the PWNFT, started playing with Diya WFC prior to joining WAPDA women's club in 2011. Along with Hajra Khan and Mehwish Khan, Marium Leghari, a Diya player, represented Pakistan in the first women's South Asian Football Federation Championship held in
Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
in 2010. Rukhsar Rashid, who joined Diya WFC in 2009 and is now coach of the club, was also a defender with the national team. Among the women players who have been part of the national team, Afshan Altaf, Qurratulain Ashraf and
Fatima Ansari Fatima Ansari (born 12 June 1995)Fatima Ansari
PFF Official website. Retrieved 05 August 2016
...
started playing with Diya WFC. Manizeh Zainli, secretary general of PFF (2020), and the first women to hold this position, played football with Diya WFC for two years as an
amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...
.


Performance


Football


PFF competitions

The club competes within three PFF championships: under-16, under-19 and open age: * National Women Football Championship Diya WFC was ranked 2nd in
2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
and
2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
, 3rd in
2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
and 4th in
2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...
. Hajra Khan won the Misha Dawood Trophy in
2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
. * Shahlyla Baloch National Under-16 Women Football Championship It earned the 3rd position in 2015, in 2018 and in 2019. In 2014, the club was rewarded with the fair play trophy and prize.


Other competitions

The
State Bank of Pakistan The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is the central bank of Pakistan. Its Constitution, as originally laid down in the State Bank of Pakistan Order 1948, remained basically unchanged until 1 January 1974, when the bank was nationalised and the scope ...
held its own women's championship, in which Diya WFC earned the 3rd place during the 4th edition in 2016.


International youth friendly competitions

Sponsored by
Geo News Geo News () is a old technology foundation Pakistani news channel owned by the Jang Media Group. It was launched in October 2002 as the news and current affairs program was under its flagship channel Geo TV, which later in 2004, Geo TV decided ...
of
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
and Alma Culture Center of
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
, and with the personal financial support of Diya's managers, U-13 and U-14 teams went to Norway in July 2017 to participate to the
Norway Cup The Norway Cup is an international youth football tournament in Oslo, Norway. It has been held annually since 1972, with the exception of 1976 (due to a conflicting arrangement), 2020 and 2021 (due to the COVID-19 Pandemic). It is the world's l ...
, without scoring any goal and getting 23 against. It was the first time a Pakistani team participated in a European tournament. In August 2017, Diya WFC's G-16 team went to
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
to play friendly matches, sponsored by the
Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (, ) is a government department subordinate to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (Turkey). Focusing on development cooperation, TİKA works in more than 150 countries. It also goes by the name Tu ...
, and U-13 and U-14 teams went to
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
for the
Gothia Cup The Gothia Cup () is an international youth association football tournament organized by professional football club BK Häcken, which has been held annually since 1975 in Gothenburg, Sweden. Considered the biggest tournament in the world in terms ...
. In August 2019, a mixed gender U-11 team went also to China for the Gothia Cup and won the fair play trophy among 66 participating teams.


Variations of football


Futsal

The club won the All-Pakistan Women Futsal Championship 2010, defeating Eco Adventure Club Islamabad (1-0), and
Fatima Ansari Fatima Ansari (born 12 June 1995)Fatima Ansari
PFF Official website. Retrieved 05 August 2016
...
and Kiran Yousuf were declared best players of the tournament. In 2021, Diya WFC won the All Karachi Under-23 Girls Futsal Tournament, among eight teams, defeating Karachi Ladies FC (8-2), and Shumaila Gulab Hussain was declared as one of the best players.


Five and six-a-side football

Diya WFC also participates to
Leisure Leagues Leisure Leagues is an franchise of five-a-side football, five and six-a-side football leagues primarily in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. As of April 2017, the Leisure Leagues network had more than 3,000 leagues in the UK alone, ...
events in Pakistan. It earned the Leisure Leagues Women Football's Pink Cup 2020, held in October to promote
breast cancer awareness Breast cancer awareness is an effort to raising awareness, raise awareness and reduce the Social stigma, stigma of breast cancer through education about Breast cancer screening, screening, Cancer signs and symptoms, symptoms, and Breast cancer ...
, defeating Garrison Football Academy (2-0). The club won the Leisure Leagues Women's Cup 2021, defeating IBA United (2-0).


Social activities

Through sport, Diya WFC’s purpose is to give girls a chance for
empowerment Empowerment is the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people and in communities. This enables them to represent their interests in a responsible and self-determined way, acting on their own authority. It is the process of becoming strong ...
, and ''"transport, education and health fees are entirely covered"'' by the club It also teaches the players soft skills. Since 2008, every 25 February, Diya WFC and the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
hold a friendly match with girls from poor areas of Karachi to promote
gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality, gender egalitarianism, or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making, an ...
, equal rights and to stop
violence against women Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence (GBV) or sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), violent, violence primarily committed by Man, men or boys against woman, women or girls. Such violence is often considered hat ...
. For the
International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8 March, commemorating women's fight for equality and liberation along with the women's rights movement. International Women's Day gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive righ ...
of 2015, the PFF held for the first time an
Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in most countries and territories in Asia. The AFC was formed in 1954. It has 47 members. The Asian Ladies Football Confederation ( ...
workshop in collaboration with Diya WFC and Balochistan United W.F.C. In June 2018, Diya WFC, in collaboration with Right To Play and Women Win, at the invitation of Thar Foundation, organized a football discovery session (including a four-month preparation, training of coaches and matches) and provided
equipment Equipment most commonly refers to a set of tool A tool is an Physical object, object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many Tool use by ...
for U-13 girls in the remote district of
Tharparkar Tharparkar (Dhatki language, Dhatki/; , ), also known as Thar, is a district in Sindh province in Pakistan, headquartered at Mithi. Before Indian independence it was known as the Thar and Parkar (1901⁠–⁠1947) or Eastern Sindh Frontier Distr ...
, which has the lowest
Human Development Index The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistical composite index of life expectancy, Education Index, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and per capita income i ...
of Pakistan. A similar operation was conducted in September 2020 in different areas of Karachi, along with Right To Play, Women Win and the US mission in Pakistan. In October 2020, Imam Baloch, director of the
National Bank of Pakistan National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) is a Pakistani government-owned multinational commercial bank which is a subsidiary of State Bank of Pakistan. It is headquartered in Karachi, Pakistan. As of December 2022, it has over 1,500 branches across Paki ...
, lauded Diya WFC's actions for spreading football to poor and "backward areas", such as
Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...
localities of Malir, Lyari and
Ibrahim Hyderi Ibrahim Hyderi Town () is a fishing village in the Malir District of Karachi, Pakistan. It was part of Bin Qasim Town, Bin Qasim, but in 2022 became one of the three towns under Malir District, the other two being Gadap Town and Malir Town. Ther ...
and such Sindh province districts of
Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
,
Thatta Thatta is a city in the Pakistani province of Sindh. Thatta was the medieval capital of Sindh, and served as the seat of power for three successive dynasties. Its construction was ordered by Jam Nizamuddin II in 1495. Thatta's historic signif ...
,
Mirpur Khas Mirpur Khas (Sindhi language, Sindhi and ; ''meaning "Town of the most-high Talpur, Mirs"'') is a city in Sindh province, Pakistan. The city was built by Talpur rulers of Mankani branch. According to the 2017 Census of Pakistan, its population w ...
and
Tharparkar Tharparkar (Dhatki language, Dhatki/; , ), also known as Thar, is a district in Sindh province in Pakistan, headquartered at Mithi. Before Indian independence it was known as the Thar and Parkar (1901⁠–⁠1947) or Eastern Sindh Frontier Distr ...
, as well as discovering new talents over there. In
Thatta Thatta is a city in the Pakistani province of Sindh. Thatta was the medieval capital of Sindh, and served as the seat of power for three successive dynasties. Its construction was ordered by Jam Nizamuddin II in 1495. Thatta's historic signif ...
, the club organized a four-day camp for 10 to 16 years old girls and awareness workshops about food and nutrient and
Covid-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
."Diya Women Football Club organizes 4 day training camp at Mukli, Thatta". ''
Daily Messenger The ''Daily Messenger'' is an American daily newspaper published weekday afternoons and on Sundays (as the ''Sunday Messenger'') in Canandaigua, New York. It is owned by Gannett. In addition to the city of Canandaigua, the ''Daily Messenger'' ...
''. 2020-10-21. Retrieved 2021-10-19.


References


External links


Global Sport Archives - Diya WFC

Global Sport Archives - Diya WFC U16.

Eleven Sports - Diya WFC's matches - 2021 National Women Football Championship (video replay).

''Pakistan's first female football club breaks down cultural barriers'', UNICEF, 2011-03-02.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diya W.F.C. Women's football clubs in Pakistan Women's futsal clubs in Pakistan Association football clubs established in 2002 Futsal clubs established in 2002 2002 establishments in Pakistan Football in Karachi Diya W.F.C.