March 31 – Pakistan football is veering further towards an international ban after FIFA urged former federation leaders to immediately hand back control to a FIFA-installed normalisation committee.
Last weekend a group led by former PFF President Syed Ashfaq Hussain Shah stormed the federation’s head office and declared they were back in charge.
The Shah-led PFF handed control to the normalisation committee in September 2019 but tensions have been brewing ever since over delays in holding fresh elections.
The latest move happened hours after Shah and his supporters expressed their concern over the way the NC was operating. But FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have warned of serious consequences if the premises are not handed back to Normalization Committee chief Haroon Malik to allow his team to continue running PFF affairs.
In a statement FIFA said: “Both FIFA and the AFC strongly condemn the incidents that have taken place at the headquarters of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) in Lahore, in which PFF staff had to be evacuated after the offices were stormed by a group of protestors.”
“As per the decision of the Bureau of the FIFA Council, the normalisation committee is the sole entity recognised by FIFA, and has been appointed to manage the activities of the PFF until 30 June 2021 as per its current mandate. This latest incident has regretfully caused severe disruption in the ability of the normalisation committee to deliver their mandate.
“FIFA and the AFC demand that the parties that have occupied the PFF headquarters immediately hand back the premises to the normalization committee or the matter will be referred to the Bureau of the FIFA Council, the consequences of which may include suspension of the PFF as per FIFA statutes.”
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