KARACHI: The FIFA Council could extend the mandate of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) Normalisation Committee (NC) by nine months, according to sources.
The NC’s tenure ends on June 30, 2023, but could stay in charge, after FIFA Council’s approval, till March 2024.
All the details about the mandate, extension and members of PFF NC will be revealed in an official statement on June 30.
In June last year, FIFA had decided to lift ban, which was imposed in April 2021, on the PFF due to undue third-party interference.
FIFA has also extended the mandate of the NC by 12 months.
“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,” FIFA said in a statement last year.
“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.”
According to FIFA, the mandate of the NC includes the managing of PFF’s daily affairs, ensuring the proper registration and scrutiny of the football clubs in Pakistan, draft and ratify, with the assistance of FIFA and the AFC, an electoral code for the PFF, organise the elections at district followed by provincial levels and conduct the elections of a new PFF executive committee.
The NC was appointed in September 2019 with Humza Khan as the chairman. Meanwhile, current head Haroon Malik and his NC were appointed in January 2021 after Humza's resignation.
Faizan Lakhani Faizan Lakhani is Deputy Editor (Sports) at Geo News.