BFA informs FIFA of Normalisation Committee’s bias

KARACHI: The outgoing Balochistan Football Association (BFA) has told FIFA that the Normalisation Committee appointed by it for running Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) is supporting one group which is a huge violation of the rules of the world body.

The BFA, in a letter written to FIFA on February 24, said that the BFA had welcomed FIFA’s decision of appointing the committee and had promised full support to it but the NC had failed to live up to the billing.

The BFA further said that the committee was supporting one group and there was no possibility of fair and transparent elections. The letter, a copy of which has been seen by this correspondent, says that the biased approach of the NC will damage the image of both FIFA and the the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

The letter, which has also been forwarded to the AFC, says that the BFA repeatedly informed the NC about the its reservations but the NC did not bother which frustrated the Balochistan football stakeholders. They are now convinced that the NC has been biased and unfair, the letter says.

The BFA has requested the FIFA to send a vigilance committee to Pakistan to examine the performance of the NC by meeting the stakeholders. The FIFA has tasked the NC to conduct club scrutiny and hold elections at district, provincial and PFF levels within nine months.

The NC, chaired by Humza Khan, a local-level former footballer of Karachi United, has taken several decisions so far which have sparked protests from the stakeholders.

The NC has put controversial figures in the various provincial committees which it has announced which makes it clear that it is favouring a particular group. With the appointment of the NCs for provincial football associations, the previous set-ups of the associations have now ceased to exist.

The NC has been working since September last year. Some critics have also raised questions over the integrity of the NC whose members are getting huge salaries.