The tournament took place after a gap of two years due to a power struggle within the Pakistan Football Federation.
The Federation was being run by a court-appointed administrator, whose appointment was declared unlawful by a division bench of the High Court which ordered financial and administrative control to be handed over to the legitimate body headed by Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat.
FIFA also lifted the ban imposed on PFF after the legitimate body was restored by the court ruling.
[3] The tournament coincided with the appointment of José Antonio Nogueira as head coach of the Pakistan national football team on 16 April 2018.
[4] Nogueira reached Karachi on 26 April to witness the event first-hand.