Pakistani-origin Aqsa Mushtaq joins Napoli Women’s team

Pakistani-origin Aqsa Mushtaq joins Napoli Women’s team

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Serie A outfit Napoli has just added Aqsa Mustaq to their Women’s team roaster. Aqsa previously used to feature for Lenoir-Rhyne University. She also won “The South Atlantic Player of the year” award last season for her performance for the University.

Aqsa’s 13 goals in 17 games for Lenoir Rhyne University caught Napoli’s attention. This is one of the biggest feat for Aqsa and Asian football. Aqsa Mushtaq hails from Bradford, England but has Pakistani origins. However the winger has dual citizenship and her International playing status is not yet decided.

Her move to Napoli is going to help many other female footballers believe in themselves and aim for new heights. Asia has the largest population amongst all continents but the number of footballers going abroad is very less. South Asian countries have only produced a handful of footballers who have joined big European teams .

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India’s Bala Devi recently joined Scottish club Rangers Women’s FC. She is the first Indian female professional to do so and has a 18 month contract at the club. This is a big achievement for Bala and for Indian football as well. This shall also create a pathway for other Female footballers to become professionals in abroad.

The problem with the Asian footballing structure is that it doesn’t produce many International stars. Big club moves require the player’s respective country to be in FIFA’s top 100. The fact that only a few countries from Asia feature in FIFA’s top 100 , stops players from being eligible for the move.

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