FIFA-Appointed Football Federation Completes Elections In 75 Districts

Pakistan Football Federation Normalization Committee announced the preliminary results of elections in 75 districts across Pakistan, taking a major step after the completion of club registration and scrutiny towards having an elected PFF.

According to PFF NC’s news release: ““Over 90 percent of voters participated in the electoral process,” while the elections in the remaining districts will be held after Eid-ul-Fitr.

Pakistan football became a hotbed of controversy and conflict since the past decade. FIFA appointed the NC in September 2019 to oversee affairs of PFF but the road to the elections has been a delayed one.

According to the PFF constitution, newly-registered football clubs have to wait for a two-year period before being given the right of vote while the NC has gone against the Constitution which has drawn the critics towards it; some of them argued that it had stripped established clubs of its right to vote.

A member of a contesting group led by former court-elected PFF chief, Ashfaq Hussain Shah, told local media: “They struck off 15 clubs in Islamabad which have been established for a long time and we have gone into an appeals process.”

Ashfaq’s group has accused the Haroon Malik-led NC of working against it after it seized control of the PFF headquarters in April 2021, a move that saw Pakistan suspended by FIFA for a 15-month period.

“They NC has also made Islamabad a district, while according to the constitution, the Islamabad Football Association has the status of a provincial association,” added the member.