ISLAMABAD: According to the standard of FIFA’s rule, FIFA has officially eliminated suspension on the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) after amending its constitution.
The decision came after the PFF Congress, at a special meeting held in Lahore last week, following the approval of the required constitutional changes. FIFA confirmed the restoration of Pakistan’s membership, saying, “The FIFA Council Bureau decided to abolish the suspension imposed on PFF on March 2, 2025.”
The revised constitution aims to bring transparency to the electoral process, which was an important demand from both FIFA and Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Shahid Khokhar, a member of the PFF Normalization Committee, welcomed the development, calling it an important development for the country’s football scene.
After the suspension ends, Pakistan can now return to international competitions, including the AFC Asian Cup qualifier. The PFF is facing immediate work to organize the national team’s participation in the upcoming qualifier against Syria later this month.
FIFA’s decision restores all PFF privileges, which enables Pakistan’s national and club teams to compete globally. However, this is not the first time that Pakistan faced FIFA suspension. The federation has faced numerous restrictions in the past due to governance issues and external intervention.
- 2017: FIFA suspended PFF, restored it in March 2018.
- 2021: Another ban was imposed, which was lifted in June 2022 after the usual committee control.
- 2025: The recent suspension was imposed by FIFA due to delay in adopting constitutional reforms.
Now that the suspension is over, the PFF will have to focus on preventing future ban and promoting football growth in Pakistan and ensuring smooth operations.
