Pakistan Football Federation Suspended by FIFA
The suspension will be lifted if the PFF Congress approves the revised constitution presented by FIFA, and the NC is working to engage with Congress members to resolve the impasse and find a way to implement the necessary amendments, with the goal of restoring the federation's membership and allowing Pakistani football to move forward.
The Pakistan Football Federation has been suspended by FIFA due to its failure to implement necessary constitutional amendments, marking the third suspension since 2017, with the governing body citing a lack of progress in resolving internal conflicts and conducting elections.
The suspension, which began this week, will remain in place until the PFF Congress adopts the required amendments, which were proposed by FIFA to improve governance within the federation. The PFF has been under the control of a FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee since June 2019, which has struggled to resolve internal conflicts and conduct elections due to disagreements with the state-run Pakistan Sports Board.
The Normalisation Committee chairman, Haroon Malik, had warned that the federation risked suspension if the amendments were not implemented by February 15. The committee has announced that FIFA and AFC support the amendments to the PFF constitution, which were recently rejected by the elected PFF Congress. The Congress members rejected the amendments, citing a requirement that the candidate have played an active role in football for at least two years, while the NC backs the 2014 constitution, which states that the candidate must have had an active role in football management or organization for at least two of the preceding five years.
The suspension has caused a crisis in the PFF, with no clear pathway forward to resolve the electoral process. The crisis has further underscored the need for the electoral body and the NC to reconcile their differences and work towards a resolution, with the NC Chairman promising to engage in dialogue with the Congress members to find a way forward.