LAHORE: Pakistan Football Federation Normalisation Committee Chairman Mr. Haroon Malik on Tuesday discussed the NC’s strategy for the PFF elections scheduled to be held by June this year.
Addressing a press conference at the PFF House in Lahore, Mr. Malik, who was appointed by FIFA as the PFF NC Chairman late last month, talked about the crucial elements that will help fulfill the mandate given by FIFA to conduct the PFF elections along with running day to day affairs of the sport in the country.
PFF NC members Mr. Shahid Niaz Khokhar and Mr. Haris Azmat were also present on the occasion.
“The Normalisation Committee being here in Pakistan shows the commitment of FIFA and Asian Football Confederation towards the normalizing of football affairs in the country,” said Mr. Malik.
The NC Chairman said the committee is an extra-constitutional one and PFF is one of the 11 Member Associations in the world which are currently being run by a Normalisation Committee.
About the mandate given by FIFA to the NC, the Chairman discussed the elements that will be crucial to fulfill it.
The elements, he said, are the day to day running of PFF, the club registrations and scrutiny, district football associations elections, provincial football associations elections, PFF elections and lastly the handover of PFF to the elected body.
“The club registration and scrutiny are the most important part of the whole task,” Mr. Malik said. “After taking into consideration the input by all the NC members, we will try to create a process which is fair, as well as acceptable to majority.”
The NC Chairman said the plan approved by the NC will be shared with the football community, whose feedback will be used to further improve it before the registration process starts.
“As soon as the registration process ends, the club scrutiny will start,” he said.
Mr. Malik also discussed about the working of the PFF Secretariat. He said the federation is working with a skeleton staff currently and the performances of the employees will decide if there are any changes to be made.
He also announced that the National Women’s Football Championship is set to start on March 8, the International Women’s Day. Along with the NWFC, the Chairman said more football activity will be initiated by the PFF in the coming months.
“The National Technical Director is working towards using the upcoming FIFA Windows for international home matches for the Pakistan men’s and women’s national teams,” said Mr. Malik.
“We are also focusing on the SAFF Championship, which is set to be held in September this year and we are hoping our team will perform well in it.”
The NC Chairman said more opportunities will be created for the education of coaches and referees while clinics to educate agents will also be planned.
About the competitions, Mr. Malik further said the Pakistan Football Federation League ‘B’ Division and Pakistan Premier League are in the pipeline.
The chairman urged that ‘we all need to play for Pakistan’ while thanking the representatives of the media who were present at the PFF house to attend the press conference.
“Media and sports are intrinsically related and sports cannot exist without the media,” he said. “Media creates fans, fan following and fandom, which is why we all need to move forward together.”