PFF headquarters were ransacked by ex-president’s officials on Saturday after the Normalisation Committee failed to lay out a proper roadmap as promised.
A mob attacked Pakistan Football Federation headquarters on Saturday as a statement made by the federation. The mob snatched all accounts and cheque books from the headquarters, virtually paralysing the finances of the football federation.
The attack was led by former PFF president Syed Ashfaq Hussain Shah. Reports suggest that the attack happened because of the delay in elections and a lack of a clear roadmap of the structure led by the current FIFA-appointed Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) Normalisation Committee (NC). The Normalisation Committee was appointed on the back of a FIFA decision due to the Pakistan Supreme Court’s interference in the 2018 PFF Presidential Elections.
Syed Ashfaq Hussain Shah won the 2018 PFF presidential elections. As per the FIFA code of ethics, anybody other than the national association is deemed a third-party body in football administration. The NC was then appointed to restore a structure, roadmap and resume national competitions after the FIFA ban in 2015.
The ex-president’s interference can again be termed as an incidence of ‘non-grata’ by FIFA, and yet another ban for the PFF is highly likely by the FIFA Ethics Committee.
I was working at the office when a mob, organised by Shah, barged into my office and asked me to hand over charge of the PFF and all bank accounts,
Malik told Al Jazeera on Sunday.
They restrained me and locked the doors, shouting and telling me to hand over the PFF to them. They were furious about not conducting the elections. I told them I will provide a roadmap and we should discuss it in a civilised manner.
FIFA takes these matters strongly and will likely ban Pakistan which means we won’t have functional football for five years. This will just kill football in the country,
added Malik.
The seizing of accounts and cheque books also meant that the ongoing Women’s Championship stands cancelled, thus jeopardising the careers of at least a hundred women footballers in Pakistan.
It is a dark day for all women football players in the country. Football in Pakistan is suffering again due to politics. The actual stakeholders in this game are the players and coaches, but we feel powerless in this situation.
said Taha Ali, coach of Karachi United Football Club.
