FIFA Council ratifies PFF suspension [The News]

KARACHI: FIFA Council on Friday ratified the suspension of Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) at its meeting in Kolkata, India.

The meeting was chaired by FIFA President Gianni Infantino who later also held a press conference along with the president of All India Football Federation (AIFF) Praful Patel.“The Council confirmed the decision of the Bureau of the Council which was communicated on 11 October 2017,” a FIFA spokesman told ‘The News’ after the FIFA Council meeting.

In the briefing when Infantino was asked about suspension matters, he said FIFA had laid down conditions and once those conditions were fulfilled it would take the world body a few minutes and the suspension would be lifted.

In the PFF suspension letter, FIFA had left a clear message that unless the PFF headquarters and its accounts were handed over to the federation suspension would not be lifted.The matter is in the court and the government is waiting for its verdict.

No Pakistani team has toured abroad since April 2015 when the dispute started over electoral issues. FIFA did try to resolve the matter the same year by sending its fact-finding mission to Lahore.But the world body’s decision later in the year to give two years to Faisal Group did not help.

FIFA had instructed the PFF to revise its constitution and hold fresh elections but as the headquarters and the accounts were not in its control and the matter was in the court, it was not possible for the federation to do anything.

During the last two and a half years not only Pakistan players’ international exposure has suffered but the domestic activities have also not been held. The Pakistan Premier Football League, which was the major source of income for most of the footballers, has not been held for the last two years. The court is expected to hold next hearing in the first week of November.

Published in The News October 28, 2017