PFF faction asked to cooperate with govt

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) faction occupying the FIFA House in Lahore has been asked to cooperate with the government to resolve the pending crises, enabling Pakistan to compete in international events.

A PFF delegation met with Minister for Inter-provincial Coordination (IPC) Dr Fehmida Mirza at her office Wednesday to discuss the situation emerging from the standoff. “The government is keen to resolve the football crisis," an official said. "The PFF headed by Syed Ashfaq Shah was called to help out and settle the issue that is bringing a bad name to the country’s football. Since solving the issue is the priority, the PFF officials were asked to cooperate with the government," he added.

The PFF delegation that included Sharafat Bokhari and others told the Minister that they had proofs of the Normalization Committee (NC) planning to rig the elections.

“The PFF delegation was told to share the proofs so that the government could move forward accordingly. The PFF delegation promised to share the details shortly,” the official added.

It is believed that the PFF is in possession of some audio tapes in which a non-NC member is heard talking about how to win the next PFF elections. The NC has said that these audio tapes were from conversation prior to the formation of the committee.

“What we want is a free and fair election. We cannot do anything else but to ensure that a free and fair election of the PFF should be held at the earliest. The government is eager to settle the issue. For that, both PFF and NC will have to cooperate with the government. We will soon be inviting NC members and are planning to discuss the matter of holding elections with them. Since it is an independent body our efforts will be to ensure elections. We have no other mandate. However, we have asked the PFF to share the proofs so that the matter be taken with the NC,” the official said. The NC members are expected to meet with the Minister shortly to give their point of view.