KARACHI, Jan 3: Qamar Yar Khan, the Sindh Football Association’s (SFA) newly appointed paid secretary-general, resigned from his post on Saturday.
A statement issued by the SFA on Saturday said: “In the best interest of football, Qamar Yar has resigned as secretary SFA. He would still be working as coordinator for SFA President Ghulam Abbas till a new appointment is made.”
The resignation followed days of unrest among the association members who were irked by the fact that Qamar Yar’s selection was approved through the support of District Hyderabad Football Association last Sunday.
In what was seen as a strange move, the Hyderabad association was approached by SFA President Ghulam Abbas after he failed to get any support regarding his decision of nominating Qamar Yar from a majority of the SFA executive committee members based in Karachi.
The SFA president was accused by several executive committee members of not discussing the nominations for the secretary’s position with them before sending them to PFF.
Qamar Yar’s appointment was finally made on Dec 18 by Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) President Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat and Secretary Ahmed Yar Khan Lodhi after receiving the nominations from the SFA president.
At the time, Nasir Karim Baloch, a member of the SFA executive committee and chairman Karachi City Zonal Football Association (KCZFA) Zone IV, had expressed shock at finding out about it through this very newspaper only. “We were not taken into confidence by Ghulam Abbas at any point … We do not accept Qamar Yar as the SFA secretary. This was not our decision,” he had said while speaking to Dawn.
The SFA officials from Karachi had also raised an objection regarding Qamar Yar not being eligible for the job since he was holding two jobs already which was in violation to PFF’s criteria for the post.
According to PFF’s criteria, the candidates for the secretary’s post should not have been “permanently employed elsewhere” or needed to give up their exisiting job for taking up the post.
However, it was learnt that Qamar Yar was working at the University of Karachi as well as the Jamia Millia as a sports instructor. This, apparently, proved to be his undoing as in his brief stint as secretary, he failed to cope with the SFA affairs alongside his two other jobs.
For instance, on Dec 26 he failed he notify the SFA officials about the correct appointment time with PFF President Faisal Saleh Hayat who had specially flown from Lahore to hold the meeting. And when the officials finally reached his hotel in Karachi with land papers of the FIFA Goal Project, Faisal Saleh Hayat was already leaving the premesis after having waited for the officials for over two hours.
Again, on Dec 28, Qamar Yar failed to notify the media that the first PFF League match, to be played at the Peoples Sports Complex, had been moved to the Korangi Baloch Stadium which caused a lot of confusion.
Qamar Yar’s final goof up was seen in the letter demanding an explanation of KCZFA Zone IV chairman Nasir Karim Baloch about issuing statements to the press. The letter happened to be dated Nov 29 instead of Dec 29, a discrepancy which possibly embarrassed the SFA since all of Nasir Baloch’s statements were issued in December.
According to sources, SFA President Ghulam Abbas had nominated five people — Ali Mohammad, Shakoor Baloch, Hussain Bakhsh, Qamar Yar and Yaqoob Baloch — for the job. Of them Ali, Shakoor and Hussain were over 60 years of age which also belied the PFF criteria who wanted someone below the age of 50 years for the post. Besides, Shakoor Baloch also worked for the Pakistan Post Office.
Only the last candidate, Yaqub Baloch, a small-time coach and huge football enthusiast who is seen at just about every football match in Karachi and is currently looking for a job, now fits the bill.
The position of paid secretary-general was created in the provincial associations by the PFF on the directive of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA).