PSB DG to meet Ashfaq today to end PFF stalemate

KARACHI: In a bid to resolve the PFF headquarters occupation matter, Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) Director General Col (retd) Asif Zaman has invited Syed Ashfaq Hussain Shah for a meeting in Islamabad on Thursday (today).

The other day a meeting was held in Islamabad between the PSB chief and IPC minister Dr Fehmida Mirza and PFF Normalisation Committee member Haris Azmat.

Sources said that effort would be made to convince Ashfaq, the PFF president, to vacate the PFF secretariat as per FIFA’s mechanism. They said that the government wants to resolve the football matter as quickly as possible. They added that the settlement between the Ashfaq group and NC would be made in such a manner so that the electoral process could be completed without any further hindrance.

A source in the Ashfaq group told ‘The News’ that no “unconditional settlement” would be made with NC. He said that the Ashfaq group wants recomposition of the NC, currently headed by Canada-based Haroon Malik.

The group is of the view that NC should have representatives from all the major groups who are aiming to contest the PFF elections.

The source said the Ashfaq group wants the recomposed NC to work only for holding the elections of PFF. “The NC must not indulge itself in holding football activities. Its sole task must be to hold the PFF elections at the earliest,” the source said.

Sources said the Ashfaq group would seek consent of its PFF Congress before going for any deal.

The PSB and IPC are acting as mediators in the whole process.

Ashfaq has already held a meeting with Dr Fehmida Mirza a few days ago.

The Ashfaq group reassumed control of the PFF headquarters and accounts recently, saying the NC had failed to do its job in 18 months.

FIFA suspended Pakistan after the Ashfaq group ignored its directive to vacate the House, saying the suspension would be lifted when the NC was allowed complete access to the PFF headquarters and accounts.

The Ashfaq group won the elections in December 2018 which were held under the instructions of the Supreme Court.

The group handed the NC the administrative charge of the PFF headquarters and accounts in September 2019. However, the then NC under Humza Khan failed to meet the June 2020 deadline. FIFA twice extended its mandate and also recomposed NC early this year, bringing in Haroon Malik as chairman who replaced Humza who resigned near the end of the last year.