Football Stakeholders Stage Protests to Demand Resignation of PFF NC Chairperson

Football stakeholders from around the country staged a protest outside the Punjab Stadium, Lahore, as the protestors demanded the resignation of Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) Normalization Committee (NC) Chairperson Haroon Malik.

The protestors wanted FIFA and AFC (Asian Football Confederation) to take action and remove Malik from the post as they want the elections to take place in March 2024.

Haroon’s Malik mandate is till March 2024, but the protestors alleged that it will take him one-and-a-half year to hold the elections.

Former President of Punjab Football Association (PFA) Naveed Haider, former Pakistan captains, Haroon Yousuf and Mohammad Essa, senior leaders from Balochistan including Haji Khalil, Gul Mohammad Kakar, senior football official from Sindh Ali Bahar Baloch and senior officials from Punjab Rana Zia and Mian Abbas were present at the protest.

The protestors weren’t allowed inside the PFF Headquarter complex, as the PFF entourage already knew of the protest so they had ordered for police personal to be deployed on the main gate of the complex.

The protestors said that the recently held Pakistan Football Referees Association (PFRA) elections were controversial. They complained about the non-payment of players’ dues and unfair selection of the national team.

Many of the protestors shouted slogans such as ‘Go Haroon Go’.