The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) has cancelled its proposed Extraordinary Congress Meeting which was set for today, until further notice. The decision comes in the wake of a very public battle between PFF and the Pakistan Sports Board.
FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) had recently stepped into the fray to resolve contentious issues surrounding the PFF Constitution. On Monday, the FIFA-appointed PFF Normalisation Committee (NC) convened a constitution review workshop, setting the stage for today’s Extraordinary Congress, where the amendments were to be voted upon.
Delegates from FIFA and the AFC, including Rolf Tanner, FIFA’s Head of Member Associations Governance, and Purushottam Kattel, AFC’s Head of MA South Asia Unit, were also present.
The clauses discussed in the meeting emerged as key hurdles ahead of the federation’s long-awaited presidential elections, scheduled for December 9. The proposed amendments have met significant resistance from Congress members which contributed to the postponement.
The most contentious proposal was to allow open elections for the PFF presidency, permitting any football-affiliated individual nominated by a Congress member to contest. This suggestion was swiftly dismissed by Congress members, who insisted on a narrower eligibility scope.
Currently, candidates for the presidency must meet stringent criteria: having held positions in PFF or related governing bodies for at least two of the last five years and securing nominations from two Congress members two months before the election. With the NC’s term expiring next month, FIFA and AFC pushed to waive the two-month deadline and reduce the nomination requirement to a single member.
Adding to the friction, Congress members voiced concerns over Haroon Malik referring to himself as the PFF president during the workshop, a title that has already drawn objections from the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB).
The Extraordinary Congress in Lahore also coincided with a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Inter-Provincial Coordination in Islamabad, where the NC has been summoned to provide updates on the electoral process.
Experts see this as a clear sign that PSB does not want the constitutional changes to pave the way for Haroon’s candidacy.
The details of the rescheduled PFF Extraordinary Congress Meeting shall be shared in due course.