FIFA names normalization committee to run Pakistani federation

Madrid, June 30 (IANS) FIFA has announced that its Council has decided to form a "normalisation committee" to run the Pakistani football federation, as a result of a joint efforts with the Asian governing body (AFC).

"On June 27, 2019, the Bureau of the FIFA Council decided to appoint a normalisation committee for the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) in accordance with Article 14 par. 1(a) and Article 8 par. 2 of the FIFA Statutes," the international governing body said in a statement on Saturday.

The committee has been decided to take care of the PFF's daily concerns, to prepare, "with the assistance of FIFA and the AFC," an electoral code for the Pakistani federation, and to organize its new elections, among other duties, reports Efe news.

"The decision follows the recent FIFA/AFC fact-finding mission to Pakistan, which concluded that only free, fair and transparent elections of the PFF executive committee would reunite the football stakeholders in Pakistan and set the basis for the development of football which has been at a standstill since 2015," the note added.

FIFA explained that its administration will name "an adequate number of members" for that normalization committee, "in consultation with the AFC and relevant local stakeholders," and both bodies are set to start the selection process soon.

"In line with the FIFA Governance Regulations, all members of the normalisation committee will be subject to an eligibility check."

The international body also said that the normalization committee's task "will expire as soon as it has fulfilled all of its tasks but no later than nine months after its members have been officially appointed by FIFA."