LAHORE - Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) in turmoil after a meeting of PFF members in Islamabad suspended Faisal Saleh Hayat and secretary Ahmad Yar Khan Lodhi from the federation but Faisal Saleh Hayat Wednesday denied the reports of his dismissal as PFF chief.
Talking to The Nation, Faisal termed the act of some so-called people, who have no standing or nexus with Pakistan football, illegal one. “I am still president of the PFF and the reports are completely untrue. It is all just lies for political ends,” he said.
The emergent meeting on Tuesday night appointed Arshad Khan Lodhi as acting PFF president in place of Faisal and Kashmala Tariq as PFF women’s wing chairman in place of Senator Rubina Irfan. But Faisal queried the legitimacy of his removal and said: “First of all, who are these people in legal terms? We should understand they are non-entities in the PFF.”
Interestingly despite the dismissal, Faisal, who sits on FIFA’s strategic committee, is still eligible to stand in the PFF elections on June 30. He faces competition from Zahir Ali Shah in the vote, which will take place here at after previously being moved to Abbottabad district.
But the PFF president was not in a mood to allow anyone to occupy Pakistan football and said: “Government has decided to occupy every public and private institution considering them their personal entity. They have lust of power and money and to fulfill this lust, they are bind about the consequences.”
Faisal said: “The so-called ‘press briefing’ conducted through the government-controlled PID at late night and addressed by a woman of highly questionable repute, speaks volumes of nature of the ‘sham affair’.”
Faisal said that the invisible meeting without any observer or media person is another attempt by the official quarters to impose their arbitrary rule on the PFF, which attempts had already been thwarted in the past and would again be dealt with in accordance with existing statutes, laws.
The PFF head reminded government of the recently-concluded POA saga and asked wasn’t it enough to learn a lesson. It is still licking its wounds after having being forced to take a complete U-turn in its ill conceived and unconstitutional attempt in installing an illegal parallel POA. The same illegal attempt is now being made on FIFA-recognised PFF which has been running its affairs independently, totally devoid of any government support since the last several years.
“The PFF as per its statutes has already notified the complete list of 20 members of congress eligible to participate and vote in the congress. The PFF will take all appropriate actions against all these individuals who have been found to be involved in this illegal affair,” Faisal concluded.