Faisal set to become AFC vice president

KARACHI: Pakistan’s Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat is set to become vice president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) unopposed from the South Zone as the continental body on Friday confirmed the list of the candidates who will run for various seats in the elections for 2019-2023 period at the 29th AFC Congress in Kuala Lumpur on April 6.

Faisal, also the president of the FIFA-recognised Pakistan Football Federation (PFF), is the only candidate for the position.Faisal remained the AFC ExCo member for last four years. He also served as head of the AFC disciplinary committee. It would be a huge boost for Faisal to become the AFC vice president at a time when his PFF future is uncertain.

A new PFF as a result of the Supreme Court-ordered elections has already been formed. As per instructions of the apex court, Faisal’s PFF handed over the PFF headquarters and accounts to the new body, which is headed by Peshawar-born Syed Ashfaq Hussain Shah, in December last year.

The last few matches of the Pakistan Premier Football League were held under the new body. But FIFA still recognises Faisal’s PFF as its affiliated body. The issue has put Pakistan’s participation in the 2020 AFC Under-23 Championship qualifiers in danger.

The qualifiers will be held in Uzbekistan later this month. India’s Praful Patel will contest elections for the FIFA council.Three candidates will contest elections for the AFC presidency: the sitting president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa (Bahrain), Saoud A Aziz M A Al-Mohannadi (Qatar) and Mohamed Khalfan Matar Saeed Alromaithi of the United Arab Emirates.

The AFC president will also serve as FIFA vice president.“In accordance with the AFC Statutes (Edition 2018), the AFC today confirms the final list of candidates who will stand for election for the term 2019-2023 at the 29th AFC Congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on April 6, 2019,” AFC said in a press release on Friday.

On October 31, 2018, the Member Associations were notified that the election for members of the AFC Executive Committee (term 2019-2023) would be held at the 29th AFC Congress, the AFC said.

“Member Associations were given until midnight (Malaysia time) on December 6, 2018, to submit their nominations as per the requirement set out in the AFC Statutes (Edition 2018) and the AFC Electoral Code (Edition 2018) for the following positions: AFC President and FIFA vice president, five AFC vice presidents, six FIFA council members, one of whom shall also be an AFC female Executive Committee member, a total of five AFC female Executive Committee members, one of whom shall also be a FIFA Council member, and a further nine AFC Executive Committee members, it added.

The AFC said that the notified candidates submitted their applications for election in line with Articles 32 and 38 of the AFC Statutes (Edition 2018) and within the deadline set.