Ashfaq Hussain Shah elected as new PFF president

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Syed Ashfaq Hussain Shah on Wednesday was elected as the new president of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF), replacing the 15-year reign of Faisal Saleh Hayat.

On Tuesday, the eve of the Supreme Court-ordered elections of the country’s football governing body, an alliance was formally announced between Sardar Naveed Haider Khan and Hayat’s ally Syed Zahir Ali Shah. Zahir and Sardar were backing Shah in the presidential election in a bid to end Hayat’s long-standing as PFF chief.

The District Football Association (DFA) Peshawar president, who is a mechanical engineer by profession, received 17 votes out of a total of 20, according to reports.

Sardar Naveed Haider (18 votes), Amir Dogar (20) and Zahir Ali Shah (18) were elected as vice-presidents.

The elections for multiple posts in the PFF were held after the order of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, and the election process was also carried out inside the apex court’s building in Islamabad.

Hayat and his team did not appear to cast their votes, while Sindh and Balochistan Football Federations also did not take part in the election process.

Farzana Rauf, Javeria Zafar and Tasawwur Aziz won the elections for the three women’s seats in the PFF.

Returning officer Aamir Saleem Rana announced that Rauf and Zafar received 16 votes each, while Aziz received 14 votes in her favour.

Earlier, FIFA had cautioned against ‘third party’ involvement in the PFF’s affairs, and had said that Hayat should be allowed to complete his term. The world body also warned of a suspension since the elections will be against FIFA statutes.

However, Shah was quoted by the APP, while addressing a gathering few days before the elections, that if they win, they will convince FIFA that elections were necessary under the top court’s supervision.