The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has confirmed the suspension of the Pakistan Football Federation over third party interference.
During the 71st virtual FIFA Congress, 203 members out of the 207 voted in favour of the suspension of Pakistan on April 7, 2021. Only one member association voted against it.
SUSPENSION OVER HOSTILE TAKEOVER:
In April, FIFA had announced the suspension of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) after a hostile takeover of its headquarters last week.
“The Bureau of the FIFA Council suspended the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) with immediate effect due to third-party interference, which constitutes a serious violation of the FIFA Statutes,” the statement had said.
The official statement had said that that the suspension will only be lifted once FIFA will receive confirmation that the hostile takeover has ended.
“This suspension will only be lifted once FIFA has received confirmation from the normalisation committee of the PFF that the PFF’s premises, accounts, administration and communication channels are again under its full control and it can continue to carry out its mandate without further hindrance.”
“This situation was prompted by the recent hostile takeover of the PFF headquarters in Lahore by a group of protestors and an alleged decision by certain individuals to remove the FIFA-appointed normalisation committee of the PFF led by Haroon Malik and to hand over the leadership of the PFF to Syed Ashfaq Hussain Shah,” it had said.
On March 27, 2021, the Football House building in Lahore was attacked by Ashfaq Shah and his group members.
