KARACHI: Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) chief Faisal Saleh Hayat on Wednesday assured FIFA president Sepp Blatter of their full support when he runs for a fifth, four-year term in-charge of world football next year.

The 78-year-old Swiss, who has been at the helm of FIFA since 1998, announced his decision to stand for re-election in a video speech at the Soccerex Global Convention in Manchester on Monday.

Blatter is expected to formally announce his candidacy at the FIFA Executive Committee meeting later this month while the secret ballot is scheduled for May 29 in Zurich.

“Due to his visionary, innovative football development programmes, solid policies and dynamic leadership, Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat has assured Sepp Blatter Pakistan’s full support in the next FIFA presidential elections,” a PFF media release said on Wednesday.

Hayat met Blatter in Zurich on the sidelines of a meeting of the task force set by the FIFA ExCo which met to discuss the change of the international calendar from 2018-2024 should the 2022 World Cup in Qatar be shifted to either January-February or November-December of that year.

The two dates have been proposed by the task force to avoid the searing summer heat in the Gulf state.

“The task force will meet again in November 2014, with each of the representatives asked to provide detailed information on how the different proposed dates for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar will impact their relevant competitions, activities and/or stakeholders,” said a FIFA media release.

Hayat is attending the meeting in his capacity as a member of FIFA’s Strategic Committee which deals with global strategies for football and its political, economic and social status.

Blatter also hailed Hayat for the continuous efforts of the PFF for the development of the game at grassroots and youth level through its infrastructure and coach education development programmes.

“In recognition of these endeavours, Blatter has shown his commitment for allocation of two artificial football turfs for Pakistan worth $1.2m,” added the media release.

“Blatter also reiterated FIFA’s continuous support for future PFF development initiatives.”

Meanwhile, a 12-member Pakistan U-12 team left for Iran to participate in a football festival on Wednesday.

Published in Dawn, September 11th, 2014