LAHORE: Secretary, Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Paul Mony Samuel has congratulated President Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) Faisal Saleh Hayat on his re-election during the PFF Congress at the FIFA Football House.
In a congratulatory message sent to the PFF and made available here, he hoped that newly-elected PFF Executive Committee during its four year term would show consistency, dedication and commitment for the ongoing promotion of football in Pakistan.
“I hope professional football will commence soon because it is essential to have such type of competition to achieve excellence,” he said.
“Faisal is doing superb work for football and his tenure from 2003-07 was simply magnificent. Faisal’s dream of bringing professionalism in Pakistan football is not far away,” he said.
Samuel, however, was not happy with the way some former office-bearers pushed their matters into court. “I have never seen in my footballing career that anyone trying to solve matter in a court of law gets fruitful results.”
Football is like a family and in a family there are ifs and buts, frustrations, punishment, so there is no need of knocking the outsider’s door for solution, said Samuel.
The AFC secretary who visited Pakistan after a lapse of 15 years during the third AFC President Cup concluded here recently, asked all football related persons to go through with Article 68 of the PFF Constitution titling Arbitration. It says: “The PFF shall create an Arbitration Tribunal which deals with all internal disputes between the PFF, its members, players, officials and match player’s agents that do not fall under the jurisdiction of its judicial bodies. The Executive Committee shall draw up special regulations regarding the composition, jurisdiction and procedural rules of this Arbitration Tribunal.”
“Arbitration is a legal technique for the resolution of disputes outside the courts. The use of arbitration to resolve disputes arising out of sporting events and participation in regulated sporting activities and is well established,” said Samuel who has carved out a niche for himself as a hands-on sports administrator.
Samuel’s work-philosophy centres around relationships built on the edifice of trust. “My ambition in life is to build meaningful and proactive relationships and create a sense of bonhomie among the people around me,” says Samuel. “I hate unpleasantness. I believe relationships based on trust go a much longer way than anything else.”