FIFA appointed committee takes control of Pakistan football

A picture shows the FIFA logo during a press conference held by the president of the football's governing body at the FIFA Executive Football Summit in Istanbul on Feb. 15, 2019. (AFP)

• Normalization bodies are imposed by FIFA if a member association is not following the organization’s statutes
• The two factions of the Pakistan Football Federation have handed over their offices and accounts to the committee

LAHORE: A FIFA appointed normalization committee officially took charge of all formal football affairs in Pakistan on Friday, effectively relieving two rival factions of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) from their duties, according to FIFA-appointed and local football officials.
FIFA has the power to intervene in its member associations’ governance by imposing “normalization committees” on members that FIFA feels are not complying with the international governing body’s statutes, which contain a number of laws and regulations.
The new five-member normalization committee in Pakistan includes two members from each PFF faction, and a fifth neutral member selected by FIFA after a competitive interview and review process. The committee is led by chairman Humza Khan. The move has generally been welcomed by players and stakeholders, with hopes that Pakistan might finally be able to participate in international football events.
“The normalization committee has taken over the charge and will meet its target of scrutinizing the clubs and hold elections at district, provincial and national levels,” Col. (r) Mujahidullah Tareen, a member of FIFA’s normalization committee told Arab News.
“The committee will run day-to-day affairs of the PFF...we will also provide our footballers the opportunity to take part in international events in line with FIFA recommendations,” he said.
Football in Pakistan has been rife with controversy since 2015, and especially since last year, as the two PFF groups, one led by Faisal Saleh Hayat and the other by Syed Ashfaq Hussain Shah, worked in parallel with one another. Hayat was recognized as Pakistan’s football chief by FIFA, while Ashfaq was elected as PFF president in an election held under the orders of the Supreme Court in December last year.
Funds from FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) come into accounts controlled by the Hayat faction and the Normalization Committee’s funding will also come into that account. However, the Ashfaq faction controlled PFF headquarters in Lahore, and in a small ceremony, handed over control to FIFA’s new committee.
“We held a meeting and decided to handover PFF headquarters and our accounts to the normalization committee,” Sardar Naveed, Vice President of the Ashfaq faction, told Arab News.
A long-serving former secretary general of the other, Hayat faction, Col. Ahmad Yar Lodhi, said he hoped that going forward, the normalization committee would do its work without favoring any one side.
“FIFA has the power to make a normalization committee, and it should work without favoring any faction. Justice should prevail and should be seen, by the actions of the committee,” Lodhi told Arab News.
Out of FIFA’s 211 members, a number of associations have recently experienced normalization committee intervention, including Kuwait, Guatemala, Greece, Argentina and Thailand. 
According to a statement on FIFA’s website from June, the normalization committee’s mandate in Pakistan includes running the PFF’s daily affairs, ensuring proper registration and scrutiny of Pakistan’s football clubs, drafting and ratifying, with FIFA and AFC assistance, an electoral code for the PFF, organizing and conducting elections at district and provincial levels, and organizing and conducting elections of a new PFF executive committee.
“The newly elected PFF executive committee will then be tasked with revising the statutes of the PFF, jointly with FIFA and the AFC, within one year of its election in order to bring them in line with the requirements of FIFA and the AFC,” the statement said.
The normalization committee is set to take over control of PFF bank accounts on Monday, and fans of the game, as well as sports analysts, have welcomed what they hope is the end to internal PFF controversies.
 “The grouping in the federation damaged the game at large. We have potential and talent but internal conflicts in PFF ruined that all,” Zahid Maqsood, sports editor at Express News group told Arab News.
“The formation of the normalization committee by FIFA is a good omen for Pakistan Football, as it will help solve issues and bring talent to the surface,” he said.