FIFA ban looms large over Pakistan after latest power struggle at PFF
Pakistani footballers have urged Prime Minister Imran Khan to save Pakistan’s football as the game faces a FIFA ban.
Athletes and some celebrities have also unified to show solidarity with the Twitter hashtag #SavePakistanFootball, urging the prime minister, chief justice and sports minister to demand steps to save the sports from the political fiasco and power contest.
Pakistani footballers, Kaleemullah, Saadullah and Hajra Khan have expressed fears that the ban threatens the careers of hundreds of talented footballers. “This will damage the image of Pakistan football in the world” said Kaleemullah, the first Pakistani player to score 100 career goals.
“It is very disappointing for all the football players” who make a living from football, Hajra Khan shared on Twitter.
What happened behind the doors?
Chairman of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) Normalisation Committee (NC) Haroon Malik was forced out of his office and made to hand over accounts and checkbooks after an attack led by former PFF President Syed Ashfaq Hussain Shah. Shah had won the elections in December 2018 conducted under Supreme Court’s orders, which FIFA did not recognize.
“After several deliberations and meetings with members of my congress and the executive committee, we have decided that we will continue working from the PFF headquarters,” Ashfaq said.
The refusal means that FIFA can ban Pakistan football at any time. This will be a second such instance in four years.
“When FIFA appointed the Normalization Committee 18 months ago, we handed over the administrative charge of the PFF headquarters to it, hoping they would organize fair and transparent elections of the PFF and put football back on track but to date not a single step was taken towards that,” Ashfaq said. “They made a joke of our decision to hand over the office. Here we are, with the Normalization Committee having been changed three times yet there is no election roadmap.”
Political power fight
PFF has a history of infighting and groupism with more than one faction claiming to be the legitimate ruling body of football in the country. Every time there is an election, the losing side hurls accusations of them being rigged.
The most affected people are obviously the footballers whose future is now uncertain. Pakistan’s top striker Kaleem Ullah requested Ashfaq Hussain to handover the power back to the normalization committee since the bread and butter of thousands of footballers is at stake.
“There are thousands of players who have their bread and butter attached with this game. Ban would mean that these players will become jobless and their careers are destroyed. I request Ashfaq Hussain to handover the PFF affairs to NC and request NC to start the election process,” Kaleemullah pleaded.
Meanwhile, the Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) Dr Fehmida Mirza, serving as sports minister, reportedly distanced from the conflict. “We want the Normalisation Committee to work till June — the election process deadline given by the FIFA. The government has nothing to do with this occupation and we hope that the committee’s mandate will be respected” she told the media.