‘Banned’ football stakeholders set to take PFF NC to court

LAHORE: Uncertainty surrounds Pakistan football once again as some major actors who were slapped with a life ban by the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) disciplinary committee, recently, have decided to go to court to challenge the decision against them. They also aim to get a stay order against the provincial level elections which are slated to be conducted from September 16-18.

The PFF disciplinary committee had banned 21 persons for life, also including major stakeholders, on August 27, for their alleged involvement either in the PFF headquarters attack in 2021 or their role in constituting a parallel PFF a few years ago.

The banned individuals include Syed Ashfaq Shah (former PFF chief), Col. Mohammad Nouman, Syed Zahir Shah (former PFF vice-president), Malik Amir Dogar (former PFF vice-president), Rana Ashraf, Rizwan Ali, Said Rasool, Azizullah, Faqir Mohammad, Mohammad Salim, Mrs Farzana Rauf, Mrs Tasawar Aziz, Dost Mohammad Khan, Syed Sharafat Hussain Bukhari, Sardar Naveed Haider Khan, Siddique Sheikh, Zulfiqar Ahmed, Javeria Zafar, Naveed Akram, Haji Saeed Tikko and Rahim Bux Baloch.

“Yes, we are going to retaliate and this is the only option,” a key stakeholder, who has been declared as persona non-grata, told Nukta.

“We are going to the High Court to challenge the illegal decision of the PFF Normalisation Committee. We are consulting our lawyer and we will do what he says,” the source added.

Another stakeholder, also slapped with a life ban for his involvement in the attack of the PFF headquarters and playing a role in the formation of the parallel PFF, also confirmed that they are going to challenge the decision.

“We will try to get a stay and suspension of this illegal order. We will also get a stay order for the provincial elections,” he said.

A source close to Malik Amir Dogar, who also has been banned for life, told this correspondent that Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Rana Sanaullah has also been briefed on issues surrounding Pakistan football.

“Rana Sanaullah has taken serious note of this action taken by the PFF NC to impose a ban on stakeholders,” the source said.

AFC-FIFA to approve the ban

The ban will be confirmed only when both Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and FIFA will approve it. The PFF NC has already shared the decision with them.

“The ban is yet to be approved,” a source close to the process told this correspondent.

The source also said that those who have been banned for life should wait for the competition of the appeal period.

“I think they should wait for the appeal period to end as they may get a relief,” the source, pleading anonymity, said.

Suspension

Pakistan, which has faced international sanctions twice during the last few years, maybe pushed to the brink of another suspension if stakeholders go to courts to seek justice.

“It may create a fear of another ban,” a source aware of the situation told this correspondent.

Pakistan football has suffered massively because of internal rift and litigation since early 2015 until FIFA installed the Normalisation Committee in September 2019 to hold the PFF elections.

Initially the NC was led by Humza Khan but it failed to do anything noteworthy regarding the elections. The NC was reconstituted in January 2021 by bringing in Haroon Malik as its chairman with Shahid Khokhar, Haris Azmat and Saud Hashmi as its members. The same NC has conducted elections at the districts level, although controversial, and is set to hold elections at the provincial level from September 16-18.

However, the decision to ban key stakeholders just before the provincial elections will create a big issue and could damage the sport again.