Sports Bulletin

Sports Bulletin ReportLAHORE:-Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) on Tuesday names a 28-man squad for national camp to prepare the men's football team for the upcoming international tournaments including 4-Nations Cup in Mauritius and South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship scheduled to be held in Bengaluru, India this year 2023.According to an official of PFF, the camp will get underway on Wednesday (May 31, 2023) in Lahore. The main objective of the camp is to prepare the side for the upcoming 4-Nations Cup in Mauritius and SAFF Championship 2023 scheduled to be held in Bengaluru, India.Names of invited players:Goalkeepers: Saqib Hanif, Salman ul Haq, Abdul Basit and Yousaf Ijaz Butt. Defenders: Mohammad Umar Hayat, Ali Khan Niazi, Mohammad Sufyan, Mohammad Umer Saeed, Mamoon Moosa Khan, Syed Abdullah Shah, Haseeb Ahmed Khan, Sardar Wali, Sohail, Easah Suliman and Abdullah Iqbal. Midfielders: Alamgir Ali Khan Ghazi, Ali Uzair Mahmood, Moin Ahmed, Shayak Dost, Mohammad Waleed Khan, Rahis Nabi, Harun Arrashid Faheem Hamid, Umair Ali and Mohammad Adnan Yaqoob.Forwards: Abdul Samad Shahzad, Otis Jan Mohammad Khan, Hassan Naweed Bashir and Mohammad Waheed. 

Sports Bulletin ReportLAHORE:-The highly-anticipated elections process for the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) has started from Chitral and subsequently will be progressing to other districts throughout the country.More than 30 clubs played their matches and were ably scrutinized. The elections aim to establish a new standard for transparency and representation within Pakistan's football community, abiding by constitutional requirements.To ensure fair and impartial elections, the club scrutiny process has been linked with the District Championship. This approach aims to guarantee transparency by thoroughly examining the data of players and clubs through diligent scrutiny officers. The scrutiny officers, match commissioners and referees review the reports and documentation provided by various clubs and submit them to PFF.A day earlier, the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) announced the Scrutiny Advisory Committee. This committee consists of members from the football community, selected to facilitate both the clubs and the PFF itself. Their primary responsibility will be to oversee and manage the scrutiny process of the football clubs. The committee will play a crucial role in providing guidance, advice and support throughout the scrutiny process. 

Sports Bulletin ReportLAHORE:-The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) Normalisation Committee (NC) has announced the formation of an eight-member Scrutiny Advisory Committee aiming to coordinate the scrutiny of football clubs across the country as the first step toward free and fair PFF elections.According to an official of PFF, the members of the Scrutiny Advisory Committee are Akhtar Moheyuddin, Mohammad Siddique, Usman Usmani, Mohammad Arif, Rizwan Hameed, Irfan Khan Niazi, Zulfiqar Shah, and Imtiaz Ahmad. The committee will be responsible for overseeing the scrutiny process of the football clubs.The PFF has already announced the starting its elections, which will begin on May 27th (Saturday) in selected districts. The advisory committee will coordinate the entire process. Subsequently, the scrutiny process will be extended to all districts of the country in the following days.The objective of conducting thorough scrutiny of the clubs is to ensure that the Electoral College, which will participate in the PFF elections, is well-vetted and meets all the requirements. This scrutiny will contribute to maintaining the integrity and fairness of the election process within the PF

Sports Bulletin ReportLAHORE:-The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) and MCB Islamic Bank signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Wednesday here at the FIFA House aiming to simplify and speed up the process of opening bank accounts for clubs, a basic requirement for the club to become a voting right holder.Zargham Khan Durrani, President MCB Islamic Bank, Mohammad Hamid Yasin, Group Head CF, Usman Ali Alvi, Business Head, Ashar Iqbal, Head RBG North, Agha Mohammad Ali, National Sales Manager CF, Amer Baig, Head CFI, Azhar Iqbal, Head Institutional Sales, PFF NC Chairman Haroon Malik, NC members Mohammad Shahid Niaz Khokhar and Haris Azmat attended the signing ceremony.President, MCB Islamic Bank, Zargham Khan Durrani said:"We are pleased to announce our partnership with the PFF. This MoU reflects our dedication to supporting and assisting local communities with the aim of making the registration process easier, faster, and more accessible for all the stakeholders, particularly football clubs, under the umbrella of Pakistan Football Connect."Chairman, PFF NC Haroon Malik said:"The opening of the account for any club is one of the key requirements of the PFF Statutes, which needs to be fulfilled in order to get the club registered and become a voting right holder. To make this process more convenient for the clubs, we have made the decision to collaborate with MCB Islamic Bank, while signing a MoU in this regard to facilitate the football clubs and effectively overcome the obstacles faced during the account opening process for clubs. With this assistance and support of MCB Islamic Bank, we are committed to ensuring that all clubs can now successfully open their accounts with comprehensive guidance and support.”NC member Shahid Khokhar said:“NC is focused to support the clubs by all means to bring them to a stage from where they can kick start their journey of professional football development and to focus on the club's sustainable business models.”

Sports Bulletin Report LAHORE: The Chairman, Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) Normalisation Committee (NC), Haroon Malik vowed to make a repaid progress for the federation’s elections and restoring football activities in the country, which would be gradually helpful for Pakistan football and footballers to earn due recognition across the world. He was talking to media persons in a press briefing at the FIFA Football House on Thursday flanked by NC member Shahid Niaz Khokhar, said: "Pakistan football has been moving in the right direction, along with restoring normal activities and making positive progress for transparent elections as per mandate. “Almost 4000 clubs have now been registered under Pakistan Football Connect while 1737 users have been given access. However, 1074 users have started using the website. Unfortunately, due to recent floods and difficulty in accessing the internet, some clubs and academies are still unaware of Pakistan Football Connect but we are trying to provide guidance and all possible support. The last date of registration is 15th December 2022. He said that as the national women’s football team played an international event after a gap of eight years, the tryouts of women were held in different cities in Pakistan. Soon the camp is going to start as the women’s team is all set to take part in the four-nation tournament in Saudi Arabia. "The hosts Saudi Arabia will play against Pakistan and two other countries. The tournament kicks off on the 11th of January and lasts till the 19th of January 2023. The tournament will be a part of SAFF’s football strategy of developing and up-skilling women’s football as well as connecting continents of Africa and Asia." He further said: “We participated in the FIFA Executive Summit on the eve of the FIFA World Cup 2022 opening and the international community expressed happiness over the restoration of football activities in Pakistan. With the support and encouragement of important members of FIFA, we will try to improve things for the promotion of sports in the country. "The powerhouses of football showed deep interest in Pakistan football and corroborated the PFF NC of their all-out support for a better future for Pakistan football. The good ties with the international community will prove fruitful for domestic football in the country," Haroon Malik concluded. Member Normalisation Committee Shahid Niaz Khokhar said: “We are glad to inform you that Pakistan successfully conducted a Futsal Level-I Coaching Course in Pakistan. The course was done in two sessions and 15 participants took part in each session. This course will have a profound effect on Pakistan Futsal,” he added.

Khurran Shahzad Awan ISLAMABAD:-National football player Fatima Ansari has said that the federation politics and bickering in the Pakistan Football Federation’s management were the main causes of decline soccer standard in the country and the game of football totally ruined at the domestic level. While talking to this reporter over her mobile from Karachi she added that the parallel bodies of the national federation also destroying the football at grass-root level. “We don’t have the qualified coaches. All foreign coaches left the Pakistan due to our quarrels and internal fights. Female players have abilities to excel at international level but they need international standard facilities including coaches, “she added. “I live in Karachi and this large city has only two standard clubs for the female player rest of clubs are just in papers. We don’t have any coach, who could guide us during the training sessions. As the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) was banned by FIFA all activities of the score stopped in all over the country and there was no guardian of the football players especially for the girls. Now, the ban has been lifted and government should take step to revive the football activities, “she maintained.

Sports Bulletin Report LAHORE:-FIFA-nominated PFF Normalization Committee (NC) Chairman Haroon Malik has said that the ‘FIFA Connect Programme’ would not only revolutionize Pakistan football, however, it would also help in holding the elections in a free and fair manner. While addressing a press conference at the FIFA Headquarters Lahore on Saturday, flanked with NC members Saud Hashmi, Barrister Haris Azmat and Shahid Niaz Khokhar, he added: “First of all, we want to conduct the federation’s elections in a transparent manner, so that the powers can be handed over to the elected body as soon as possible”. “The first step regarding holding the elections in a fair and free manner is the registration of the clubs. FIFA's ‘Connect ID’ will ensure transparency in the process and help eliminate fake clubs. We are going to start the clubs’ registration next month,” he maintained. It is worth mentioning here that the Connect Programme provides a unique FIFA ID code for every individual (football club) that has a role in the football organisation. This code is like a digital football passport number and has the information of the history of each stakeholder. Most of the FIFA members’ system is linked up with the ‘FIFA Connect Programme’.  While answering a question Haroon Malik said, “A dark era has finally ended with the continuous struggle and support of the football community, and the media also supported them in this difficult journey. Keeping in view the FIFA Charter, the Normalization Committee remained on its principal stance, while fighting a legal battle on the internal front, it also conveyed this to the government houses that in case of continuing to deviate from the rules and regulations of the international body, Pakistan's suspension might turn into a long-term ban, “he further said. “On the other hand, the NC convinced FIFA that taking any extreme step could be harmful for Pakistani footballers. However, thanks to the support of FIFA and AFC, the difficult journey is over, and now many goals are in front of the Normalization Committee,” he added.  The NC Chairman revealed that not only football activities would be restored at the local level, but pragmatic steps would be initiated to ensure the participation of national teams in international events too. “This year, Pakistan will participate in the SAFF Women's Championship that will take place in Nepal while we can also host two AFC youth events. “A Disciplinary Committee will be formed to keep a close watch on irregularities in various cases so as to protect the assets of Pakistan Football Federation and the interests of the football community. The national men and women players will be provided maximum opportunities at national and international level so that they may improve their games and skills and also earn a better livelihood for their families,” Haroon Malik concluded.