Row In Football Ends Soon, FIFA-AFC Body To Conduct Free, Fair, Fresh Election

The row in football of two parallel bodies of the Pakistan Football Federation would be ending soon and certainly the game of football would prosperous in Pakistan when the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) announced a Normalizing Committee with a giving mandate to conducting free, fair and fresh election under a set parameters

PESHAWAR, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd Jul, 2019 ) :The row in football of two parallel bodies of the Pakistan Football Federation would be ending soon and certainly the game of football would prosperous in Pakistan when the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) announced a Normalizing Committee with a giving mandate to conducting free, fair and fresh election under a set parameters.

The steps taken by FIFA and AFC Commission to step in bid to resolve the ongoing row between the two parallel bodies of the National Football Federation (PFF). In Pakistan, football is run by the two federations, one under Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat which is recognized by FIFA and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) earlier on, while the second is led by Syed Ashfaq Hussain.

Surprisingly, the country's ranking slipped to an all time low (205) out of 207 affiliated countries with World Football Governance Body (FIFA). Although it was expected that the decision of the fact finding commission of FIFA in Oct this year but FIFA-AFC made it earlier only to safeguard football in Pakistan, says Secretary General FIFA Fatma Samoura, in a letter address to Secretary General PFF Lt. Col. (Retd) Ahmed Yar Khan Lodhi.

The letter says, the FIFA-AFC Commission forwarded the report to Member Associations Committee (MAC) on the matter and certainly after announcing of the normalization committee, it is expected that the same body would conduct free, fair and transparent election, a gigantic task, in eight month time.

The effort of the Pakistan Olympic Association was also a key in expediting the whole process after it sent a letter to FIFA to speed up the decision on the matter so that Football be played as an event in the forthcoming 33rd National Games to scheduled in October-Nov this year in Peshawar.

It further, says that the fact-finding mission visit in April 6, 2019 after one party conducted the election on Dec 12, 2018, it had detail discussions on the subject arisen between two parallel bodies, that who to be run the affairs of football in Pakistan.

It is certainly historical steps taken by FIFA-AFC mission for announcing a normalization committee with certain mandates only to run the affairs of football in Pakistan in an appropriate way wherein players associated with this game should be protected with zeal and spirit.

The Bureau of the FIFA Council further took note of the fact that the roadmap, decided by the FIFA Member Associations Committee in September 2018 and communicated to the PFF by the FIFA administration in Nov 2018, has never begun to be implemented given the afore-mentioned circumstances of conflict consequently; said roadmap is no longer possible to comply with.

The letter in written send by the Bureau says under these circumstances, and in accordance with the art, 14 par. 1 a) and par. 8 par. 2 of the FIFA Statutes, the Bureau has decided on June 27, 2019 last, to appoint a normalization committee for the PFF. Its mandates includes the following tasks including - to run the PFF's daily affairs, to ensure the proper registration and scrutiny of the clubs in Pakistan, to draft and ratify, with the assistance of FIFA and the AFC, ean electoral code for the PFF, to organize and conduct elections at district followed by provincial levels and to organize and conduct the elections of the new PFF executive committee.

The newly elected PFF executive committee would then be tasked with revising the statutes of the PFF, jointly with FIFA and the AFC. The normalization committee shall be composed of an adequate number of members to be identified by the FIFA administration, in consultation with the AFC.

Although the persons eventually identified for the normalization committee will assume their duties with immediate effects, all members of the normalization committee will have to pass an eligibility check to be carried out by the FAFA review committee in accordance with the FIFA Governance Regulations. Their confirmation will be contingent upon the outcome of the eligibility check. Furthermore, the FIFA administration, in consultation with the AFC, reserves the right to revoke the mandate of any of the members of the normalization committee and or to appoint further members at any time.

The normalization committee will act as an electoral committee whole decision are final and binding, and note of its members will be eligible for any of the open positions in the elections under any circumstances, including in the event that their mandates as a members of the normalization committee has been revoked or that they resign from their position. The specified period of the time during which the normalization committee shall perform its functions shall expire as soon as it has fulfilled all of its tasks but no later than nine months after its members have been officials appointed by FIFA. The exact date for the normalization committee to complete its mandate will be communicated by the FIFA administration once its members have been identified.