Rahim asks PFF NC to reconstitute Sindh normalisation committee

KARACHI: Outgoing secretary of Sindh Football Association (SFA) Rahim Bakhsh Baloch on Saturday asked the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) Normalisation Committee to recompose SFA NC and form a new body after taking all the stakeholders of the province into confidence.

“Our reservation is that the PFF NC has formed SFA NC without taking the football stakeholders of the province into confidence,” Rahim told ‘The News’ in an interview. “This will lead to a disaster. If PFF NC wants to work with neutrality it will have to revise the composition of the committee for Sindh,” he added.

Rahim said that there are 19 districts in Sindh and out of them 16 had not been taken into confidence while forming SFA NC. He also demanded that PFF NC remove Riaz Ahmed as SFA NC secretary.

“What is the contribution of Riaz to Sindh football! He was previously working with Karachi United. The PFF NC should have inducted former international striker Ali Nawaz Baloch and Hasan Baloch in the SFA NC as they are people of football. Ali Nawaz has got pride of performance award but he was not given any importance by the PFF NC,” Rahim said.

He said if their demands were not met they would hold a press conference and would stage a protest demonstration in front of the Karachi Press Club.

When asked whether any legal step would be taken against the PFF NC, Rahim said that “would be the last option”.

He also said that SFA NC’s chairman Khwaja Obaid Ilyas had been a goalkeeper of Karachi United. The PFF NC chairman Hamza Khan himself belongs to KU. The newly-elected secretary of PFF NC Manizeh Zainli also belongs to KU. “It seems that an effort is being made to bring KU’s owner Taha Ali Zai and company into power in Sindh. We strongly oppose these steps and will seek justice,” Rahim said.

“I called Humza Khan around 25 times but he did not respond and even did not take pains to meet me. Three days ago he contacted me and asked me about my reservations. I told him that he had not received my calls 25 times and was asking 25 days later about my reservations,” Rahim said.

“I firmly believe these people cannot do anything and what they are doing will lead to chaos,” Rahim said.

He said that four employees of Karachi Football House had not received salaries since the PFF NC took charge six months ago. “What is their fault,” Rahim questioned. “The PFF NC member Col Mujahid Tareen had told me that the salaries of these four people, Ghulam Mohiuddin, Mohammad Sharif, Abdul Latif and Dil Murad, would be increased but it is pathetic that these employees are not being given their current salaries,” Rahim said.

He added that SFA NC’s member Danish was a candidate for the presidency of District South Football Association in 2015. “He was also a marketing representative of the same district association. How could these people be neutral,” Rahim asked.

District South FA’s patron Nasir Karim was ExCo member of the Ashfaq-led PFF which had been formed as a result of the supreme court decision.