The four day event which began on July 1st at the Fairfax County Va, Poplar Tree Park came to a conclusion on Tuesday July 4th, 2006.  This year, the Championship game and the Afghan community picnic was held at the “Germantown Soccerplex” in Maryland.  The Championship game was played the Soccerplex Stadium built at international standards with state of the art facilities including a gym.      

After the conclusion of the final game between the Brishna Soccer Club of New York and Afghan United of California where the Brishna Soccer club of New York was pronounced “ US-Afghan Soccer Cup” champions,  trophy presentation and prizes were awarded by the ASF Executive Committee members Ajmal Ghani A., Atiq Panjshiri and Sulaiman Lutfi with guest speaker the Internationally renowned Afghan personality  politician, scholar, and former Interior Minister Ali Jalali who spoke with passion on the positive role of the community in the lives of the younger generation. The program progressed with a live concert by famous Afghan artist Habib Qaderi. Mr.Qaderi who himself is a sports enthusiast entertained the guests with his band by singing for a couple of hours until midnight.

The program started early in the afternoon inside the huge indoor gym complex, International sponsors and local food vendors setup their tables and got ready for the spectators that had come from all over the US. Afghans from California, Canada, Georgia, Texas, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Idaho, Florida and the Washington DC Metro Area were all gathered in one place to watch the games and see each other in an event that has become a tradition among Afghans living in the United States. There were Afghans in the crowd that had come as far away as Europe and Asia.

Hundreds of Soccer Players and thousands of their fans and supporters come and watch the games and enjoy the festivities. In the word of a fan “We come here not only watch the game but to connect with our follow Afghan.  It feels like we are back in AfghanistanR21;.

The Afghan Sports Federation as usual honored veteran athletes with trophy presentations.   

R20;Everything went according to plan and I attribute this to the hard work of the Afghan Sports Federation's personal and the management "said Mr. Ajmal Ghani A. President of the Afghan Sports federation.

The Afghan Sports Federation with its tournaments and public events is holding soccer, volleyball, and basketball tournaments every year and has been the leading Afghan-American organization in the promotion of sporting activities in the US and in Afghanistan. ASF was the first organization to call for the re-establishment of the Afghan National Committee and the reinstatement of its membership at the International Olympic Committee in 2001-2002.

For more information and pictures of the event visit www.afghansportsfederation.org

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Contact:
Ajmal Ghani A. ajmalghani@hotmail.com
Sulaiman Lutfi sulaiman@trivision.tv
General:info@afghansportsfederation.org
202-468-3100 or 703-626-6800