Some relief, at last

FIFA lifted suspension of PFF, much to the delight of football fans in Pakistan

Football in Pakistan remains a neglected sport regardless of who remains in power. Over the years, the most followed sport in the world failed to get the attention of the higherups, something which remains baffling, to say the least.

However, on June 29, football in Pakistan received a massive boost after the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) lifted the suspension imposed on Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) in a press release.

“The Bureau of the FIFA Council decided on 29 June 2022 to lift the suspension that was imposed on the PFF in April 2021 due to undue third-party interference,” the statement read.

“The decision was taken after FIFA received confirmation that the normalisation committee of the PFF had regained full control of the PFF’s premises and was in a position to manage its finances.

“The PFF was also informed that any undue interference in its affairs or action that could hinder the fulfilment of the mandate of the normalisation committee might lead to the PFF being suspended again and/or the imposition of other sanctions provided for in the FIFA Statutes.

“As the deadline by which the normalisation committee was required to fulfil its mandate (30 June 2022) is now no longer realistic, the Bureau has also decided to extend the committee‘s mandate until 30 June 2023 at the latest. This will enable the latter to finally carry out the tasks assigned to it in full.”

What led to suspension

Over the year, PFF remained suspended for numerous reasons but this time around, the people who claimed to be doing what’s ‘best’ for sports in the country, took the organisation to that point, courtesy of a hostile takeover.

As weird as it may sound, PFF headquarters in Lahore witnessed unprecedented events in March 2021 when the Ashfaq Shah-led group completed a coup by overtaking the building.

In an interview with Samaa English last year, the then head of Normalisation Committee (NC) Haroon Malik explained how the events took place.

“On that day, a group led by Ashfaq stormed into my room,” said Haroon. “I took them out and we sat in a conference room. I asked them what the problem is and their response was that I should hand over charge and leave.

“I told them that it does not work like this. FIFA will not approve them. They responded that they did not care. You give us the bank account details and leave. We will take care of the matters with FIFA as well.”

He continued by saying: “I was like, give me three to four days to figure out a way, and they were like, no, enough is enough. We have waited long enough. I came back to my room to call my lawyer but Ashfaq and his people entered my room and asked whether I was going to do what they are asking me or not.

“I again tried to have a word with them and make them understand that FIFA will not allow this but in the meantime, more people entered my room and started harassing me. I felt threatened for my life and that’s when I decided to take my bag and leave. I asked my finance director to come and leave with me but he said that people are already searching his room’s cabinets to figure out where the cheque books were.

“When we decided to leave together, the Ashfaq Shah-led group physically stopped my finance director. They were also asking me to stop but I did not listen to them. I came down and saw the glass gate being chained up so no one could open it. Fortunately, there was a brick which we used to stop the gate from closing on itself. I used that to break the glass and leave the building premises.

“We called them at the first instance when they [Ashfaq Shah-led group] harassed one of our employees. Once I left the building, my lawyers and the police helped us in getting all the employees out of the building safely. The whole process took about two hours. But in the meantime, the protestors took away the laptop, tablets, even headphones of our employees.”

Some sigh of relief

The news was met with great excitement from the national team players, athletes from other sports, officials and journalists in the country.

Congratulations to All football player's & football fans of pakistan & whole those people's who are working hard with pure heart with honesty for The youth of Pakistan for Pakistan ⚽️I'm appreciate their efforts.I wish Pakistan ⚽️ not see again this Dark day's hope for the best. pic.twitter.com/e9DcmH2Nkg

— Saddam HUSSAIN (@SaddamSH17) July 1, 2022

Congratulations Pakistan on the lifting of #FIFA suspension. Football begins!

— Haroon M. (@GotT0_) June 30, 2022

congratulations To all my football players brother's@FIFAcom has decided to end @PFF Pakistan Football Federation's 15 month long suspension. The decision came after after The Bureau of FIFA Council took the decision.@SaadullahKha10@Kaleemullah_10#PakistanFootball

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— Sher m Kakar (@ShermKakar6) June 30, 2022

First thing PFF needs to do is hire a good sports psychologist.
They owe it to the players who have suffered the most as a result of all this mess!

— karishma Ali (@karishmaAli22) June 30, 2022

FINALLY! Normality restored. End of a bleak period for Pakistan football and hopefully start of a bright one under the PFF NC. https://t.co/ROPdfg5UEE

— Roha Nadeem (@RohaNadym) June 30, 2022

FIFA lifts Pakistan suspension. PFF NC to receive funding directly for now as court case regarding its accounts continues to be heard. pic.twitter.com/55odfbPYWm

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— Umaid Wasim (@UmaidWasim) June 30, 2022

What now

While the latest news brought much-needed joy to the football players and fans in the country, the future of football in Pakistan remains in limbo.

It is no surprise why the Pakistan football team is now languishing at the 196th position in the FIFA rankings out of 211 national teams on the table.

There were days when we used to compare with how our neighbours go about their business in different sports but that is just not the case anymore.

India are now within touching distance of breaking into the top 100 teams in the world, currently placed at number 104.

Bangladesh, which was a part of Pakistan till 1971, are ahead of us as well, placed at 192. The most demoralising factor is that the war-torn Afghanistan are placed on 154th-place in the rankings.

Those rankings are a testament to how far Pakistan football is from the rest of the world and there is no shortcut to bridging the gap.

The only way things can improve is for once, for whatever is left, for the officials to sit together, remain impartial and just focus on the betterment of the sport and athletes in the country as even then, it will take us decades before we can recover from the loss of the last few years.