Pakistan 'surprised' by FIFA ban on PFF, says decision taken in 'haste'

• PSB DG Col Zaman says they were not expecting such a hasty decision from FIFA.
• Zaman says he was expecting FIFA to carry out a detailed and thorough review of the prevailing situation.
• PDB DG says FFIA's decision would serve no good to the future of the game.

ISLAMABAD: The suspension of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) by FIFA has surprised the government as newly-appointed director general of the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) Col (retd) Asif Zaman said that the football governing body took the decision in haste.

The Bureau of the FIFA Council suspended the PFF “due to third-party interference, which constitutes a serious violation of the FIFA Statutes”.

The PSB director general while talking to ‘The News’ said that Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) Dr Fehmida Mirza had requested patience during her press conference held a couple of days back.

“We were not expecting such a hasty decision from the football’s governing body. It has shocked us as the game of football will be the ultimate sufferer after such decision. The minister had assured her help for resolving the issue in the best interest of the game. Though the government does not want any interference, for the sake of the game’s future we wanted an amicable settlement of the issue,” he said.

Read more: FIFA suspends Pakistan Football Federation with immediate effect

Zaman said he was expecting FIFA to carry out a detailed and thorough review of the prevailing situation.

“We were taken by surprise by this hasty decision that I feel would serve no good to the future of the game. We were expecting a rational review of the situation by the game’s governing body before imposing a suspension on the PFF,” said the DG.

The FIFA in a handout issued on Wednesday said the decision to suspend Pakistan was prompted by the recent takeover of the PFF’s Headquarters in Lahore by a group of protesters and an alleged decision by certain individuals to remove the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee of the PFF led by Haroon Malik and to hand over the leadership of the PFF to Syed Ashfaq Hussain Shah.

Read more: FIFA warns Pakistan of suspension over 'illegitimate occupation' of PFF headquarters

When PFF president Ashfaq Shah was approached in Islamabad where he was nursing his minor surgery, he said he was disappointed by the decision like any other Pakistani.