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KABUL (SW): The world football governing body FIFA, in a decision that was long overdue, has suspended Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) owing to its offices’ wrongful occupancy of court-appointed administrators rather than elected personnel.
FIFA threatened of the said suspension months ago but had since kept its mum on the turmoil, which stemmed from the controversial Changla Gali elections of 2015 when Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat was accused of manipulation by his rivals. PFF’s internal power struggle has since lingered on for more than two years and stifled the country’s entire footballing ecosystem, Express Tribune reported.
FIFA, on Wednesday, finally followed up on its threat in a statement, saying: “FIFA has decided to suspend the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) with immediate effect in accordance with the decision of the Bureau of the FIFA Council dated 10 October 2017 on account of undue third-party interference.”
The statement further read: “The Bureau took this decision as a result of the fact that the PFF offices and its accounts remain in control of a court-appointed administrator, which constitutes a violation of the PFF obligations to manage its affairs independently and without influence from any third parties in accordance with the FIFA Statutes. The PFF loses all its membership rights as defined in article 13 of the FIFA Statutes. The PFF representative and club teams are no longer entitled to take part in international competitions until the suspension is lifted.”
ENDS
