PFF appointed committees for Punjab, Islamabad football scrutinized
The committees formed by Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) for Punjab and Islamabad have come under major criticism for showing signs of favoritism.
Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) Normalisation Committee on Tuesday announced committees for Punjab Football Association (PFA) and Islamabad Football Association (IFA).
Naved Akram, Khan Malik, Rizwan Asif, Aneeq-ur-Rehman, Moazzam Ali Khan and Shoukat Ali Khan were named members of the six-member committee for Punjab. Mohammad Zaman, Syed Muqbil Hussain Naqvi and Ghulam Mujtaba were named as members of the Islamabad body.
The constitution of the bodies has raised many eyebrows once again. Before this, the committees announced for Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan had also attracted criticism from some stakeholders.
Former PFA president Naved Haider spurned the composition of PFA NC. “I totally reject this committee as it is not neutral in any sense,” Naved said. “The PFF NC is doing favouritism as Zahir Shah is being hugely favoured. The things are heading towards disaster,” he added.
Naved also hinted that stakeholders in every province were unhappy by every decision of the normalisation committee. He also raised objection on the number of members as six member committee as it should be consists of 5 or 7 members
“How can you form a six-member committee! They did this to accomodate their favourite,” he said.
All signs point to favoritism as Moazzam Ali Khan, part of the PFA NC announced on Tuesday, is closely associated with Hafiz Salman Butt, a former PFF secretary, who is supporting Zahir Shah. According to reports Shoukat Ali Khan, also member of the PFA NC, is close to the PFF NC member and former PFF secretary Col Mujahid Tareen.
Interestingly, Mohammad Zaman and Syed Muqbil Hussain Naqvi, who are part of the body announced for Islamabad, served as vice-presidents of the last set-up of the IFA which is backing Zahir Shah.
It is pertinent to mention here that Zahir Shah is former president of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Football Association. He is likely to be brought as the new PFF chief.
Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Essa also recently lashed out at PFF's Normalisation Committee for biased steps it has taken so far and said that it would be disastrous for the country’s football.
