Maria Khan becomes first Pakistani to be signed by Saudi football club

KARACHI: Pakistan women’s football team captain Maria Khan became the first ball player from the country to be signed by a Saudi club after Saudi Women's Premier League's Eastern Flames announced her inclusion to the club. 

Maria, 31, is the first Pakistani female footballer to be signed by a Saudi club. She was named captain of the Pakistan women's team for their comeback tournament SAFF Women's Championship last year and under her leadership, the side has displayed remarkable progress.

According to the Dammam-based Saudi club Eastern Flames, Maria has been signed for this season to strengthen their first women's team for the league.

The club announced Maria’s signing on the microblogging site X, saying “Maria Khan joins the ranks of Eastern Flames FC."

“The Club’s management contracted with the first foreign professionals to support the ranks of the women’s first team in the women's premier league this season,” the Arabic text of the post said.

Reacting to her signing, Maria hoped that playing with an international club would open more opportunities for Pakistani talent.

“I hope this starts to create opportunities for Pakistani athletes and the talent that a lot of times goes unnoticed," Maria told Geo News after her signing with Eastern Flames FC.

The club’s roster also shows players from Colombia, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco in the list.

It may be noted that the club could win only two games out of the 14 in the inaugural edition of the Saudi Premier League last season.

Maria has previously played for WAPDA in Pakistan’s national women's football team.

The midfielder got everyone’s attention earlier this year with her stunning goal on a free-kick to equalise the game against the hosts Saudi Arabia in a four-nation tournament.

Before Maria, Hajra Khan became the first ever female footballer from Pakistan to be signed by a foreign club when she joined SHR Football Club of Maldives in 2014.