CHITRAL: The Lower Chitral District held it’s first District Championships since the unified
Chitral district split in two in 2017, to much fanfare. The event was held over a period
of approximately 2 weeks at the Centennial Model School Stadium in Chitral Town.
The District Sports Office of Lower Chitral organized the event in conjunction with the
District Football Association of Lower Chitral. President of DFA Lower Chitral and General Secretary KPK Football Association Haji Hussain Ahmed graced the occasion’s opening ceremony, while Omar Amin Gandapur, brother of KPK CM Ali Amin Gandapur graced the final as Chief Guest.
Zang Bazar beat tournament favorites Hamjan in the quarterfinal, who had 7 KPK-Balochistan Ufone Cup champions and 1 player who represented Pakistan. In the final they met with Acciva Drosh who had two marquee players who represented Pakistan, which went to penalties after a 0-0 full time score. Zang Bazar then won 4-2 to mark their 18th overall District Championship win.
Their goalkeeper Zahir won the man of the match award whereas Acciva Drosh’s
defender Masud won the man of the tournament award. The president of Zang Bazar FC, Bilal Mumtaz, had the following to say, “Zang Bazar is part and parcel an integral part of Chitral, as it’s the most centrally located village out of all the clubs. In such a short amount of time since taking the reins, Zang Bazar has managed to come out on top despite getting knocked out in the couple of tournaments it has participated in so far in 2025. I hope they can set a precedent for other village and community based clubs to follow, with no superstar players representing their squad”.
Technical Director of Zang Bazar and former Man Utd academy coach, Mark Cox, also expressed his delight at the championship, and hopes to set a high standard for football after this massive win.
“The team needed to believe in itself and I felt I brought the right amount of organization to the squad and turned their weaknesses into strengths. Analyzing the game in Chitral is different from analyzing a regular football game, so that needs to be taken in to account to taste success at the highest level in this terrain”.
