ISLAMABAD: Pakis­tan Football Federation Normalisation Committee chairman Haroon Malik told a parliamentary panel on Thursday that Feb 15 will be last day of his tenure while vowing that the constitutional amendments which are being pushed by FIFA will not open his way for his potential candidacy in the elections of the country’s football governing body.

Summoned by the National Assembly Standing Committee on Inter-provincial Coordina­tion for a briefing on the PFF elections, Haroon informed that Pakistan risked suspension from global football body FIFA if the constitutional amendments were not accepted by the PFF Congress.

At its extraordinary meeting last month, the PFF Congress had rejected the proposed amendments, resulting in the elections being put on hold. Haroon was grilled by the standing committee with Mohammad Sanaullah Mastikhel in the chair, being asked why the election process was taking such a long time after the NC was first appointed by FIFA back in Sept 2019.

After he stated that he will be leaving his post on Feb 15 — the deadline of the latest extension given to the NC by FIFA, he added that he wanted to assure the panel that he will not be running for the PFF presidency nor will he be supporting anyone for the post.

Haroon was questioned about the appointment, rather than election, of three women members to the PFF Congress while members of the standing committee also questioned FIFA’s relentless push for constitutional amendments while disregarding the wishes of the elected congress.

Questions were also asked regarding the decisions of the PFF disciplinary committee, which banned several officials in the lead-up to the provincial elections.

After some members expressed reservations over the PFF affairs and the elections process, a sub-comittee was formed under the convenorship of MNA Anjum Aqeel to look into the matters. The sub-committee will engage with PFF congress members and review the appointment of three women members.

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2025