Hajra Khan has been very vocal about the dismal state of affairs of women’s football in Pakistan. She tries to bring the light the sheer discrimination female football players face from authorities. The last time the women’s football team played a significant tournament was in 2014.
And perhaps this is what was on Hajra’s mind while she participated in the Equal Playing Field (EPL) initiative in France. She now has bragging rights to holding three Guinness World Records.
1 weekend, 2 World Records, 4 hours of total playing time, 6 goals!! 😁⚽️🎖
Honoured to be representing Pakistan 🇵🇰
Now time to watch the big games! #Anygirlanywhere #FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/0PB50wGX3P— Hajra Khan (@hajrakn) July 2, 2019
The Equal Playing Field (EPL) initiative in France is an event organized by a non-profit that is working towards making football a more accessible sports for women around the world; especially in Asia. Cultural and financial barriers often discourage women from pursuing the sport but the initiative is trying to change that and thus it was perfect that Hajra participated in the initiative since these are all the things she stands for as well.
While at the event, Hajra took part in a five-a-side match that went on for a total of 69 hours; it started on the 28th of June and ended on the 1st of July. Around 807 women played in the match which earned it the world record for most players in a five-a-side match.
The second record Hajra earned was by playing in a 1-a-side match which had players from the most nationalities participating and ended up bagging the world record. She scored two goals during this match.
The entire event was orchestrated to shine a bigger spotlight on women in sports which is why the dates overlapped with the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Hajra’s representation of Pakistan was brilliant and even commended by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s social media.
Congratulations @hajrakn on achieving 3 football-related Guinness World Records, the whole Nation is proud of you, keep shining 🇵🇰 pic.twitter.com/ZZdXdSOmsL
— PTI (@PTIofficial) July 3, 2019
Hopefully, this will help bring more funding and resources by the government towards women in sports in the country. But nonetheless, Hajra made the entire country proud. What do you think of Hajra bagging several world records? Let us know in the comments below.
