WASHINGTON, July 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Thousands of Afghans from all over the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and Afghanistan gathered at Howison Park in Prince William County and Maryland Soccerplex Stadium of the Washington DC metropolitan area to celebrate the Afghan Sports Federation's 11th annual 4th of July sporting and cultural events.

The three day event which began on July 3rd came to a conclusion on Saturday July 5th 2008. The Championship games, the Afghan community picnic and cultural events were held at the internationally-renowned Germantown Soccerplex Stadium in Maryland.

After the conclusion of the Championship games which included women's volleyball, men's volleyball, women's basketball, men's basketball, youth soccer both girls and boys, and soccer (football), trophies and awards were presented to the champions, followed by a live concert by famous Afghan Singers Mustafa & Temor Jalali until midnight on Saturday.

This year's cultural/sporting events were the biggest ever hosted by the Afghan Sports Federation, with thousands of spectators from all over the United States, Canada, Europe including international sponsors and local food vendors.

Hundreds of athletes and thousands of their fans and supporters came to watch the games, and enjoyed the festivities. The Afghan Sports Federation also had games and activities for kids including rides on a hot air balloon. In the words of a fan: "We wait a whole year to come to Washington, and re-live memories of our beloved Afghanistan's Independence day sporting events of the past, watch the games and connect with our friends and families; we thank ASF for organizing such a wonderful healthy sporting event."

The final day's program started with the soccer semi-final games at 10 a.m., followed by volleyball championship games for both men & women and immediately followed by an spectacular basketball championship game and an all-star basketball game in the afternoon inside the huge indoor gymnasium packed with leagues of spectators cheering for their favorite teams. The soccer championship game between Brishna Soccer Club of New York and Afghan United of California ended in a 2-2 tie after the regulation and extra time; finally Brishna FC of New York prevailed over Afghan United, CA in penalty kicks (3-2).

Trophy presenters on behalf of ASF were two female soccer players from the Afghanistan women's national team who were initially trained by ASF coaches, Mr. Ehsan Bayat, Afghan industrialist and philanthropist, Hashmat Khan, the famous Afghan actor/director, ASF officials Atiq Panjshiri, Sulaiman Lutfi, Zia Panjshiri, Esmael Husseini, Assad Amin and ASF President Ajmal Ghani A.

The tournament's soccer MVP was Mr. Jawed Sanie and the basketball MVP was Mr. Rishad Noorzad, both from Virginia.

The men's basketball champion was the Afghan Ballers of Virginia/New Jersey. The men's volleyball champions were the Afghan Mohajeer of Virginia; the women's champions were team Azaadi of Virginia. Girl's soccer champions were team "Noor" of Virginia.

"By far this was the largest gathering of Afghans in United States and the Afghan Sports Federation's personal, volunteers, officials and management performed professionally. Everything went according to plan," said Mr. Ajmal Ghani A. President of the Afghan Sports federation.

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

SOURCE Afghan Sports Federation