Is Pakistan football on the brink of international suspension?

The joint delegation of FIFA and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) was not happy with the way the vital meeting of the PFF newly-elected extraordinary congress was sabotaged at the Pearl Continental Hotel Lahore on November 19.

Nukta has reliably learnt that the delegation had no doubt that it was state interference which forced the postponement of the meeting.

The meeting was postponed at a time when the Congress members had hardly taken their seats. The representatives of some departments, who had not been invited to the meeting, forced their way into the meeting hall. According to sources one of them said that they would not be allowed to hold the meeting without them as their departments are the PFF Congress members.

On this FIFA and the AFC delegation held a meeting with the PFF Normalization Committee and it was decided to postpone the meeting. The meeting had been convened to amend the Article 38 of the PFF Constitution which is related to the eligibility criteria for the PFF presidency in order to pave way for the PFF elections.

The foreign delegation comprises Rolf Tanner, Head of MA Governance at FIFA, Niren Mukherjee, Head of the Deputy Secretary's Office in the Member Associations Division of AFC and Purushottam Kattel, Head of the South Asian Unit at AFC.

Repercussions

Now the country’s football may face serious implications because of the incident. The delegation will have submitted its report with the relevant wings at both the FIFA and the AFC.

The issue may also be taken to the FIFA Council.

The electoral process may also get derailed and FIFA may suspend Pakistan again due to third-party interference as it happened in 2017 and 2021.

If it happens it would be a body blow to the country’s football which already has suffered massively during the last one decade due to various issues.

The second possibility is that FIFA may issue order that the elections of the PFF should be held according to the existing constitution. Thirdly, it may go, as usual, for amending Article 38 by rescheduling the PFF Congress meeting.

But it is now crystal clear that the PFF elections will get delayed for a few months.

FIFA had given December 15, 2024, as mandate to the PFF Normalization Committee which it had installed in September 2019. And had the congress meeting been held the other day the deadline could have been met. But now it may take FIFA and the AFC some time to reschedule the Congress meeting.

Nukta has learnt that FIFA wants to open the eligibility criteria for the PFF president.

Sources said that FIFA want that all those who have served football for two years during the last five years should be made eligible to contest for the PFF presidency.

This correspondent understands if it happens it will also provide opportunities to even politicians to run for the PFF presidency.

Sources said that effort is also being made by some congress members to eliminate former PFF president Faisal Saleh Hayat from the race by making amendment in the Article 38 by limiting the eligibility criteria to only the newly-elected Congress members.

If the PFF elections are held according to the PFF existing Constitution Article 38 then Faisal will also be eligible to contest for the PFF top post.

Faisal also served as AFC vice-president from April 2019 to April 2023.

The newly-elected Congress has also raised objection over NC’s stance to bring in directly three women as congress members.

So, there are matters for further debate if Congress meeting is rescheduled.

Meanwhile the meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) is also scheduled to be held at Islamabad on Friday.

The PFF NC chairman Haroon Malik has also been summoned to the meeting. He had skipped the previous meeting which was held on November 19 as it had a clash with the PFF extraordinary congress meeting in Lahore. However, NC had sent its two representatives to that meeting chaired by Sanaullah Khan Mastikhel.