Islamabad: The Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination, Fehmida Mirza termed the suspension of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) by the FIFA Bureau as highly painful, and absolutely shocking to the millions of football fans.

While reacting on the matter, Fehmida emphasized that they had already condemned the act of taking over of Football House by a faction of PFF in unequivocal terms.

“It is unfortunate that FIFA has suspended Pakistan’s membership,” she said. “The government is trying to bring both sides to the negotiating table,” she added.

She requested the Normalization Committee to announce the roadmap for Elections of PFF in line with the directions of FIFA.

“The normalization committee and the Pakistan Football Federation are independent bodies. the government is playing the role of mediator so as to restore the normal activities of Football in the country,” she added.

She concluded by urging FIFA to reconsider its decision and that the government assured pledges to facilitate FIFA in the peaceful resolution of the matter while upholding the international obligations.

It must be noted that FIFA suspended PFF yesterday due to third-party interference. According to the Bureau of the FIFA Council, the interference constitutes a serious violation of article 16 of the FIFA Statutes.