Football dispute to end soon, says senior official

KARACHI: Despite the prevailing uncertainty around the resolution of the football dispute, a senior official of Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) says that the matter will be resolved soon.

“I am optimistic,” the official told ‘The News’ on Wednesday. “There are some impediments and once those are removed the things will get settled,” the official was quick to add.

However, he refused to disclose what the hurdles were.

A delegation of the Ashfaq group held a meeting with the IPC Ministry a few days ago and according to sources they expressed their reservations.

The group informed the IPC Minister Dr Fehmida Mirza that they could not go with the current Normalisation Committee headed by the Canada-based Haroon Malik.

“Yes, the Ashfaq group shared with us their grievances. They are not against holding elections. The NC has already shared with us election road-map and we are trying to get the impediments removed,” the official said.

“We are not a party to the whole dispute but we are making effort to get the things resolved,” the official said.

“The issue is not only of the vacation of the PFF secretariat but there are certain other things which need to be settled down. Soon InshaAllah the things will be done in the right direction,” the official said.

The Ashfaq group occupied the PFF secretariat in Lahore in late March. And after a few days, FIFA slapped Pakistan with a suspension. This isolated Pakistan from the rest of the football world as the nation cannot send its teams to any international events.

FIFA will only lift the suspension when the NC regains access to the PFF headquarters and accounts.

The NC’s tenure expires on Thursday (today). It is highly likely that the tenure will be extended further for a minimum of three months. It is likely that FIFA will issue letter in this regard in the next two days.

The Ashfaq group formed PFF as a result of the Supreme Court-ordered elections in December 2018. However, in September 2019 they handed over the PFF headquarters and accounts to the FIFA-appointed NC. They reassumed charge in March this year, saying that NC had failed to hold the PFF elections despite holding office for around 18 months.