FIFA suspends Pakistan football after ‘hostile takeover’

Players, coaches blast rival group that took over Pakistan Football Federation HQ last month.

FIFA, football’s world governing body, has suspended the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) due to third-party interference. A group of football officials, led by Ashfaq Hussain Shah, who was elected as PFF president in the 2018 elections sanctioned by the Supreme Court but not recognised by FIFA, took over the headquarters last month and seized control from the PFF Normalisation Committee (NC) appointed by FIFA and headed by Haroon Malik. FIFA said its decision to suspend the PFF was prompted by the “hostile takeover” which constituted a serious violation of its statutes.