A joint delegation from FIFA and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) will visit Pakistan next month to monitor the progress made under the appointed Normalisation Committee (NC).
FIFA, the governing body of football across the globe, had appointed the NC to hold elections for Pakistan Football Federation, which are yet to take place according to NC’s chairman Haroon Malik.
Mr Malik, while talking to reporters during a press conference, offered more details on the delegation’s upcoming visit. According to him, the emissaries will arrive in Pakistan on 20th January for a three-day visit.
The visiting officials will also meet the Senate Standing Committee on Sports, the members of the Ministry of Inter-provincial Coordination and the representative from the Pakistan Sports Board during their trip.
The worrying admission from Mr Haroon’s press conference was that no election date has been finalised by the NC thus far. According to him, the long-due PFF elections have not taken place due to legal cases against the body.
With their main condition still unmet, it remains to be seen whether the FIFA delegation will give Pakistan more time or impose more sanctions.
FIFA had initially banned Pakistan after citing “outside interference” when unauthorized personnel took control of PFF headquarters in Lahore instead of the FIFA-appointed Normalization Committee.
Pakistan finally got some respite this year but the future of the country looks bleak if the in-fighting within PFF’s ranks continues.
