LAHORE - The FIFA fact-finding mission headed by Luca Nicola arrived here on Tuesday night to find out the current situation of football in Pakistan.
First, FIFA-recognized PFF led by Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat met with the mission to brief it the background and current situation of football in Pakistan while later, the PFF formed through the elections held under Supreme Court orders also met the mission through their lawyers only.
The FIFA-recognized PFF delegation was headed by its general secretary Col (r) Ahmed Yar Khan Lodhi and during its meeting with mission, it informed them about the background of football disaster in Pakistan and PFF’s position on the current situation.
It is pertinent to mention here that no elected official of the PFF met with FIFA delegation because they refused to meet its vice president Naveed Haider, who was suspended first by the executive committee of Punjab Football Association for one year and then recently by the overwhelming majority of its congress for five years.
The international body’s refusal to meet the suspended Sardar Naveed Haider has exposed their false claims, since the last many months, they were trying to prove that they were in touch with FIFA/AFC and that the mission is coming at their behest, the sources said.
The sources further said that the Ashfaq-led PFF had no answer to the logical queries and legal questions put forth by the FIFA/AFC mission and as such were left totally high and dry viz-a-viz the international body’s clear regulations governing its member associations.
“Ashfaque and allies had claimed that FIFA mission is coming on their invitation. If it is true why they didn’t meet the mission, when it is here in Pakistan. It shows their claims were false,” the sources added.
They said that no international authority recognizes the body formed through the election held on courts order. “FIFA has already given the roadmap that the elections after following the due process and review the statutes of the PFF will held in March 2020. There is no chance of any election before fulfillment of that roadmap,” they added.
The FIFA mission has been in Pakistan for two days to reach to the facts, why the situation in Pakistan reached to this turmoil stage.
