FIFA names body to run PFF’s affairs, Hamza to be chairman

KARACHI: Hamza Khan will serve as chairman as FIFA on Friday unveiled the list of the five-member normalisation for the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF).

FIFA said in a press release that Hamza Khan would serve as chairman while Sikandar Khattak, Munir Ahmed Khan Sadhana, Syed Hasan Najib Shah and former Pakistan captain and former secretary of PFF Col Mujahidullah Tareen would act as members of the committee.

According to sources, Hamza was former skipper of Karachi United football team. Khattak belongs to Peshawar. According to a source he is the brother of former Pakistan Peoples Party’s minister Iqbal Hussain.

Sadhana is the Jhang Football Association’s president. Syed Hasan is a businessman from Lahore. Hasan and Sadhana were nominated by FIFA-recognised PFF, while Mujahidullah and Khattak were nominated by the Ashfaq-led PFF.

The Bureau of FIFA Council took this decision. A two-member FIFA and Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) delegation had conducted interviews at Lahore last month to pick members for the committee. FIFA also reiterated on Friday that the committee would run the PFF’s daily affairs; ensure proper registration and scrutiny of clubs; draft and ratify, with the assistance of FIFA and the AFC, an electoral code for the PFF; organise and conduct elections at district followed by provincial levels; and organise and conduct the elections of a new PFF executive committee.

“The newly elected PFF executive committee will then be tasked with revising the statutes of the PFF, jointly with FIFA and the AFC, within one year of its election in order to bring them in line with the requirements of FIFA and the AFC,” FIFA said. “The members of the PFF normalisation committee will assume their duties with immediate effect and, as per standard procedure, will have to pass an eligibility check to be carried out by the FIFA Review Committee in accordance with the FIFA Governance Regulations,” it added. “Their confirmation will be contingent upon the outcome of the eligibility check. Furthermore, the FIFA administration, in consultation with the AFC, reserves the right to revoke the mandate of any of the members of the PFF normalisation committee and/or to appoint further members at any time,” FIFA said. “The PFF normalisation committee will act as an electoral committee whose decisions are final and binding. As such, none of its members will be eligible for any of the open positions in the elections under any circumstances, including in the event that their mandate as a member of the PFF normalisation committee has been revoked or that they resign from their position,” FIFA said.

“The specified period of time during which the PFF normalisation committee will perform its functions will expire as soon as it has fulfilled all of its tasks, but no later than nine months after its members have been officially appointed by FIFA – which means on 15 June 2020,” FIFA said.

The world body also said that the PFF headquarters and bank accounts should be handed over to the committee by September 20. “The premises and bank accounts of the PFF are to be handed over to the PFF normalisation committee by no later than 20 September 2019,” FIFA said. Col Mujahid told ‘The News’ that it was the time to settle the whole dispute. “If Pakistan’s football was not corrected now it would never be settled. It’s a golden opportunity and everyone should support the FIFA’s move,” Mujhaid told ‘The News’ from Lahore.

He said that he had spent his whole life serving football, as player and as official. He added that he was ready to do work day and night for the betterment of the sport. “I will definitely play a positive role in the whole process. If the committee works on merit then things will settle down forever,” he said.

Ashfaq-led PFF vice-president Naved Haider told ‘The News’ that they would hold a meeting on Monday in which a decision regarding handing over the PFF headquarters and bank accounts to the committee would be taken. “FIFA will be conveyed the decision,” he said.