Maria Khan has joined the Saudi Women's Premier League Club.

Maria Khan has joined the Saudi Women's Premier League Club.

She expressed hope that her contract will open up more opportunities for Pakistani talent.

Maria Khan, the captain of the Pakistan women's football team, has been signed by the Saudi Women's Premier League Club, Eastern Flames FC. The 31-year-old Maria Khan was nominated as the captain of the Pakistan Women's team for the previous year's SAFF Women's Championship, and under her leadership, the Pakistan Women's team showed significant progress.

According to the Dammam-based Saudi club Eastern Flames FC, Maria has been signed for this season to strengthen their first team. The club announced on their Twitter page in Arabic, which translates to "Maria Khan has joined Eastern Flames FC's ranks" and "The club's management has signed the first foreign professional player this season to support the first team in the women's premier league."

The club's roster also includes players from Colombia, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco. In the previous season's Saudi Premier League inaugural edition, the club managed to win only two games out of 14. Before this, Maria had played for WAPDA in Pakistan. In the beginning of this year, she gained attention for her spectacular goal in the Free Kick World Cup, where she played against Saudi Arabia and matched the game.

Maria is the first Pakistani female footballer to be signed by a Saudi club. In 2014, Hajra Khan became Pakistan's first female footballer to be signed by a foreign club, SHR FC from the Maldives. During the signing, Maria expressed hope that her contract with the Saudi club will provide more opportunities for Pakistani talent. After signing with Eastern Flames FC, Maria said, "I hope this will start creating opportunities for Pakistani players and talent that often goes unnoticed."