PAKISTAN PASSIONI

MICHAEL SHERIDAN VISITED PAKISTAN AND THE MOUNTAINS OF KARIMABAD WHERE WOMEN'S FOOTBALL IS BOOMING

A YOUNG girl, wearing a thick jacket on top of her football kit, places the ball down for a free-kick and walks backwards slowly, pacing out her gargantuan Roberto Carlos-esque run-up. The other girls standing in the wall know what’s coming, and they don’t look pleased about it.

I am in Karimabad in northern Pakistan, equidistant between the wildly different worlds of Afghanistan and China, etched into the Karakoram mountains, 2,500m above sea level, the unlikely site of the Hunza Women’s Premier League.

Teenage girls sprint across the dusty pitch, wearing their respective teams’ vibrant kits in orange, purple and greens.

Some of the world’s highest peaks loom above, and the Karakoram Highway roars below with colourful trucks cruising along the road that links Islamabad to China.

Today marks the beginning of the inaugural Hunza Women’s Premier League, which is funded by sponsorship from local businesses. In late November, there is a chill in the air, highlighted by some of the girls playing football in their coats.

Not that I am one to judge, wrapped up in my hat, gloves and down jacket, reluctant even to take my gloves off to take photos.

Karimabad is a long way from city life, a dusty 13-hour drive north along the Karakoram Highway from the capital Islamabad. Its population of 16,000 live in a scenic natural amphitheatre, which at this time of year is bursting with oranges and reds as the iconic poplars show their autumn colours.