KARACHI, Aug 18: Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) came under a scathing attack on Thursday when its vice-president alleged top officials were violating constitution, saying the technical directorate had what he said “hijacked” the federation.
Ghulam Abbas Baloch said top PFF officials had been involved in breaching the constitution by organizing various national level tournaments without consulting and involving him as PFF chairman competition committee.
“I am the second senior most vice-president. According to the constitution, it makes me the chairman of the competition committee of every domestic tournament. PFF has been holding several events including Pakistan Premier League and National Challenge Cup without even consulting me.
“I have no involvement in the tournaments which are being held in Karachi, although I am also the chairman of Sindh Football Association. It’s an open violation of the constitution,” Abbas told Dawn.
The official alleged that instead of the elected officials, PFF was being run single-handedly by appointed directors, especially director technical Col Mujahid Ullah Khan (retd).
Asked what purpose could be achieved by involving him as a chairman competition committee, he said “there is total chaos, no proper organization as the whole show is being run by director technical without anybody’s consultation.”
“It is because of this one-man show that prestigious events like Premier League are dogged by mismanagement. As a result there is total confusion. PFF wants cash-strapped clubs that can hardly travel to the designated venues throughout the country, to bear all the expenses.
“Poor clubs which are hosting the visiting clubs are required to bear expenses such as grounds, medical, and other things. All this is causing troubles for the host clubs as they don’t have the money. For instance, PFF has given authority to the Premier League match commissioner Ali Nawaz Baloch in Karachi for dealing with organizational matters including finance.
“Hosts clubs are also required to provide media the results of each match which I believe is not being done and can’t be done by the clubs. All these organizational things need some experienced people,” Abbas alleged.
Interestingly, Ali Nawaz, the match commissioner of Karachi’s Premier League matches, refused to accept his responsibilities when asked about his domain, saying “I have nothing to do with any organizational matter.”
Pointing out what Abbas called sorry state of soccer affairs, the vice-president said last PFF executive committee meeting was held in September last year and another should have convened by now.
“But there are no signs of executive committee meeting as yet as Aug 31 deadline for annual meetings is approaching,” Abbas lamented.
Mujahid had a different view on the issue as he considered the matter purely technical, having no room for provincial association officials.
“During league matches, it is the duty of the host teams to deal with all the sensitive matters, be it security or an abandoned match. If we involve provincial associations it will make things complicated in case a match is abandoned or any other mishap.
“This is purely a technical point as system has been changed with the launching of league instead of national championship. But other than leagues played on home and away matches, provincial associations have always been involved whenever a national tournament is held,” he contended.
Mujahid confirmed Ali Nawaz had been involved in Karachi matches of Premier League and coordinated with the local outfits at a meeting before the start of the matches.
“There were some financial problems in Karachi as host outfits had not paid for the venues and other things since the start of the matches on Aug 6. After complaints from the caretaker of the venue, the matter is now solved through coordination with Ali Nawaz. Some teams have paid while remaining will pay their dues soon,” he admitted.
Meanwhile, Abbas said SAFF delegation would visit Karachi’s People’s Sports Complex on Aug 22 as part of final inspection for December’s SAFF championship. A practice match between local outfits will be played under lights on Aug 23 to test the facility.