KARACHI: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has begun its probe into the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) over financial embezzlement during its 12 years under president Faisal Saleh Hayat.

The FIA summoned Hayat, secretary Col Ahmed Yar Khan Lodhi and finance committee chairman Asif Ali on Monday, asking them to appear with the PFF bank account statements and complete audit reports from July 1, 2003 till June 30, 2015.

However, none of the trio appeared before the FIA inspector conducting enquiry into the matter with a PFF spokesperson from Hayat’s faction claiming that they had questioned FIA’s jurisdiction into the case.

The PFF has been hit by infighting in recent months with a splinter group, who claim they ousted Hayat through an Extraordinary Congress, seizing control of the PFF House.

It resulted in a hotly-disputed election on June 30 where both factions were due to hold elections before the Lahore High Court (LHC) intervened, issuing a stay on the polls.

Despite the order, Hayat’s faction held the elections saying they did not receive the court orders and claim that Hayat’s election has been accorded by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

There has, however, been no such news from the AFC with a spokesperson having earlier told Dawn that “elections are to be held according to AFC and FIFA statutes and national law”.

The other faction which has Arshad Khan Lodhi as its interim president, meanwhile, has written to FIFA president Sepp Blatter about alleged financial irregularities and bending of rules in the PFF constitution under Hayat.

PFF’s senior vice-president Zahir Ali Shah, who was due to contest the elections against Hayat, has written to the FIFA chief but he hasn’t received a reply from the world’s football governing body as yet.

Published in Dawn ,July 14th, 2015

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