ONCE again, Pakistan has been ousted from the global football family. FIFA recently suspended the Pakistan Football Federation, for the third time since 2017, stating that the suspension would not be lifted unless the PFF Congress accepted the constitutional amendments tabled by it. With this move, FIFA also extended the mandate of the PFF Normalisation Committee, due to end on Feb 15, till July 31. The rejection of the amendments to the PFF constitution, according to FIFA, hindered the holding of free and fair presidential elections. The PFF, mired in crises since 2015 and under a FIFA-elected NC since September 2019, seemed to be finally headed towards an elected set-up following polls at lower levels — until its suspension. FIFA’s argument centres on the fact that the current PFF constitution limits the pool of potential candidates.

However, FIFA’s move to add a partial revision of the constitution to the mandate of the PFF NC came only last year, and was not disclosed until only a few months ago, when officials of FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation held a review workshop with the PFF Congress. When appointing the NC over five years ago, it had stated that the elected body would make the constitutional amendments. Congress members — who came in after winning elections at the provincial level — have every right to feel aggrieved; their argument is that opening up the election means a person who lost polls at the lower level can still run for PFF presidency. FIFA also has not kept its part of the bargain. It had planned meetings with government officials before tabling the proposed amendments. The meetings never took place. PFF NC chairman Haroon Malik has appealed to MNAs to help convince the congress to accept the amendments. A meeting between FIFA and the government would not only ease the situation but also end the normalisation process for an elected set-up at the helm of the PFF.

Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2025