Sri Lanka beat Pakistan as South Asian women´s cup kicks off

ISLAMABAD: Sri Lanka beat hosts Pakistan 2-1 as the third South Asian women´s football championship kicked off in Islamabad on Tuesday.

The South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) women´s cup, which runs until November 20, features eight teams including Pakistan´s arch-rivals India and neighbour Afghanistan.

The tournament is the first high-profile regional women´s sports event in deeply-conservative Pakistan.

A young home-side were contained in their own half for most of the match by a composed Sri Lanka team, going one down before half time to a goal from midfielder Ishara Madushani.

After the break Pakistan had several chances to equalise, but Sri Lankan forward I.L.E. Kumudumala added a second goal in the 86th minute.
On the stroke of full-time, Pakistan captain Hajra Khan scored a face saving goal in the 89th minute.

Women´s sports were taboo in conservative Islamic Pakistan, but military ruler General Pervez Musharraf opened the way during his near decade-long tenure from 1999 to 2008.

The first women´s national championship was held in 2005 but players were required to follow a strict dress code, wearing trousers instead of the shorts normally worn by the players.

The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) promised tight security for the teams, after a suicide attack at a border post with India last week killed nearly 60 people.

Doubts had been raised over whether the tournament would go ahead following the incident.

Monika Staab, a FIFA consultant for women football, told AFP she had no security worries and said the tournament would send a good signal to budding young female players.

India will play their opening game against Maldives in a group A match on Thursday while Afghanistan will face Bangladesh on the same day.

Nepal take on Bhutan in the second match of the group B Wednesday. (AFP)