Pakistan Premier League

The Pakistan Premier League (PPL; پاکستان پریمیئر لیگ) is a Pakistani semi-professional league for men's football clubs. The top tier of the Pakistan football league system, the PPL operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the PFFL B Division. The league has remained inactive since the end of the 2018–19 season.

Since inception of the Pakistan Premier League in 2004, four clubs have won the title: Khan Research Laboratories (5) WAPDA (4), Pakistan Army (2) and K-Electric (1).

Origins
Pakistan's first highest level football competition began on 28 May 1948 as the National Football Championship. The league was a knock-out competition, which remained the top football league in the country until 2004 when the Pakistan Premier League was introduced. National Football Championship featured teams representing cities or provinces, including teams from Dacca Division and Chittagong Division from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Dacca Division won two back-to-back leagues, and Chittagong Division won the league only once.

The 1948 Pakistan National Football Championship was the first season which ended with Sindh Red being crowned champions. The National Football League era though saw Karachi based Pakistan Airlines with most championships, winning the competition nine times with their first league title in 1971, with their last title win in the season of 1998–99.

Foundation
In August 2003, major restructuring was undertaken by the Pakistan Football Federation with support of FIFA's Goal Programme. Several new training facilities were built across the country and a new Pakistan Football Federation Head Office was built in Lahore. Under new management, the Pakistan Football Federation restructured the National Football Championship and in 2004 introduced the National League Division A which contained 16 clubs, and the National League Division B with 5 clubs.

Premier League (2006–present)
In 2006–07 season, the National League Division A Football League was renamed to the Pakistan Premier League while the National League Division B Football League was renamed to the PFF League. In the following 2007–08 season, the league was expanded to 14 clubs. For the 2010–11 season the league was expanded to 16 clubs. The two bottom teams at the end of each Pakistan Premier League season would to be relegated to the PFF League, while the top 2 teams in the Football Federation League would be promoted to the Pakistan Premier League.

Inactivity and suspensions (2015–present)
The league was suspended in 2015 due to the Pakistan Football Federation crisis, until the lift on suspension by FIFA on 13 March 2018. The 2018–19 season was ultimately organised by two different federations. Faisal Saleh Hayat-led Pakistan Football Federation, which was internationally recognised, started the league and non-FIFA recognised Ashfaq Hussain Shah group, which formed a parallel PFF, coming into power by third-party interference through the PFF elections conducted by the Supreme Court.

After the suspension once again from all football activities by FIFA on 7 April 2021, the 2021–22 season was initially organised by the Ashfaq Hussain Shah group, who again came to power after attacking and taking charge of the PFF office. The tournament was suspended after a few months into the season and then cancelled.

Clubs
The following 16 clubs competed in the last 2018–19 Pakistan Premier League season:

List of champions by season
For champions before the Premier League see List of Pakistan football champions.

Ranking
As of 26 August 2021

Structure
The Pakistan Premier League is directly under control of the Pakistan Football Federation. The PFF oversees all aspects of the league and makes unilateral decisions over any changes to the format, funding and sponsorship.

The league is essentially composed of departments, armed forces teams, and a group of local clubs.

Competition
There are currently 14 clubs in the PPL. The season lasts during the winter months stretching from November to February, with each club playing the others twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents for a total of 26 games for each club, with a total of 210 games in each season. Each teams receives three points for a win and one point for a draw. Teams are ranked by total points, then goal difference and then goals scored. At the end of each season, the club with the most points is crowned as PPL Champion. At the end of the season, the two worst teams are relegated directly to the PFF League, while the top two teams in the PFF League are promoted to the PPL.

Qualification for Asian competitions
The top team in the PPL automatically qualified for the AFC President's Cup until its abolishment in 2014, it was the weakest branch of Asian Football, but the winner of the PPL would later be nominated for the AFC Cup from 2016. Technically, the PFF can nominate any team to represent them in Asia; however, only the team that finished top of their highest league are sent.

Players
Pakistan Premier League clubs have almost complete freedom to sign whatever number and category of players they wish. There is no team or individual salary cap, no squad size limit, no age restrictions other than those applied by general employment law. Due to the nature of the league, some players tend to work for the company they play during the off season and top players can command respectable football salaries.

Media
PTV Sports was the official media partner of Pakistan Premier League. It showed live matches of the league while Geo Super showed highlights.

Criticism
The Pakistan Football Federation has been severely criticized for its non-serious attempts to increase the quality of football in the country. The PFF cites claims of lack of funds from the government, however these claims are largely rejected by players and owners who agree that the PFF was severely mismanaged and corrupt. The league had an "amateurish" setup according to critics, which they claimed did not allow players to develop to the level they were capable of. Pakistani clubs used to be considered as lightweight in comparison to other Asian clubs and defeats in the AFC President's Cup suggest that this may have some foundation. Another main criticism is the number of games played over a short period of time. One team could be forced to play three games in five days due to the congested fixture list. The PFF's attempts to cut costs have led to players becoming exhausted.

Departmental teams
Since the PFF has not made serious attempts to lure large businesses to invest in and sponsor teams, the league has a dominance of department and armed forces teams, which have resulted in poor attendances, with the best supported teams being the Balochistan clubs Afghan FC Chaman, Baloch Nushki and Muslim FC. In stark contrast, the Karachi Football League, despite being a third level division, routinely attracts healthy audiences with the highlight being the 2008–09 final between Shahzad Mohammadan and Nazimabad FC where a huge crowd of over 18,000 witnessed proceedings at the KMC Stadium.

The teams essentially survive on their department sport budgets, with the players sidelined as permanent employees than as professional footballers. Private football clubs are severely strapped for cash and barely surviving a season.