Daily Times

LAHORE: The FIFA, the world football governing body, has suspended the Pakistan Football Federation’s (PFF) membership citing ‘undue third-party interference’. “The national federation’s offices and its accounts remain in control of a court-appointed administrator,” a FIFA press release said on Wednesday. The PFF’s national and club teams are not entitled to take part in international competitions until the suspension is lifted. The FIFA threatened of the said suspension months ago but had since kept its mum on the turmoil, which stemmed from the controversial Changla Gali elections of 2015 when Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat was accused of manipulation by his rivals.

The PFF’s internal power struggle has since lingered on for more than two years and stifled the country’s entire footballing ecosystem. In a bid to fix the issue, the Lahore High Court-appointed administrator took over running of the PFF – but that move came in violation of the FIFA statutes regarding political interference.

The decision to ban Pakistan was taken by the Bureau of the FIFA Council and came in to effect immediately. “It was taken since control of the court-appointed administrator constitutes a violation of the PFF obligations to manage its affairs independently and without influence from any third parties in accordance with the FIFA Statutes. However, the suspension will be lifted once the PFF offices and access to the PFF accounts are returned to the PFF,” added the press statement.

With the suspension in effect, the PFF and its associate clubs will not be able to benefit from any of the FIFA or the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) facilities or development and training programmes, with the national federation losing all of its membership rights. The PFF dispute began after a controversial election of the Punjab Football Association (PFA) in April 2015 that saw the country’s football governing body split into two factions heading into its presidential poll. With both factions heading into elections, the Lahore High Court intervened and ordered a stay on the elections but the Faisal Saleh group went ahead and conducted the election in the presence of an AFC observer. It was a move that saw the LHC appoint an administrator to control the PFF affairs until the matter was resolved.

The FIFA gave the PFF faction led by Faisal Saleh a two-year mandate to ratify statutes and hold fresh elections in September 2015. However, the PFF’s factions being involved in a legal battle meant the elections could not happen. The ban comes as a further blow to Pakistan football.

The men’s national team have not played a game since 2015, resulting in an all-time low world ranking of 200 and there is no professional league in the country.

The ruling, however, is not going to make much of a difference for Pakistan footballers as it does little to rekindle the domestic leagues. Faisal Saleh will appear in Lahore High Court next Tuesday in a bid to re-take charge of the PFF. But even if FIFA lifts the suspension, the problems facing Pakistan football run much deeper.

Published in Daily Times, October 12^th 2017.