Lahore (GNP): Senior officials from FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have called on the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) to undertake a comprehensive revision of its statutes to bring them into full conformity with international football governance standards. The call was made during a two-day Governance and Statutes Revision Workshop held in Lahore, marking a significant step toward institutional reform within Pakistani football.
The opening day of the workshop featured addresses by FIFA’s Head of Member Associations Governance, Rolf Tanner, and AFC’s Senior Manager of the South Asia Unit within the Member Associations and Regional Associations Department, Sonam Jigmi. Both officials spoke directly to members of the PFF Congress, making clear that external or third-party interference in the internal operations of the federation would not be acceptable under FIFA and AFC regulations.
A central theme of the workshop was the principle of good governance, with Tanner and Jigmi walking Congress members through the foundational concepts that underpin a well-functioning football federation. Chief among these was the separation of powers between legislative, executive, and judicial bodies within the federation’s structure.
Tanner explained that a clear division of authority creates the checks and balances necessary to reduce institutional risk and guard against corruption. “The distinction of powers ensures a check and balance that reduces risk of corruption,” he noted.
The discussions also covered equally important areas including the avoidance of conflicts of interest, the promotion of gender equality within football governance, and the need for competence-based decision-making at all levels of the federation. These principles, both officials stressed, are not optional recommendations but core requirements that member associations are obligated to uphold.
Tanner highlighted that the PFF’s current constitution dates back to 2014, with only limited amendments introduced last year ahead of the Elective Congress that was held under the supervision of a FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee. Given how much the global governance landscape has evolved over the past decade, the existing framework is no longer adequate to meet the demands placed on a modern football federation.
He emphasized that the revision of the constitution is a formal requirement set by both FIFA and AFC as a prerequisite for ensuring the PFF’s long-term institutional stability. “FIFA and AFC had directed a revision of the PFF Constitution one year after the elections and this workshop is a step towards ensuring that it happens very soon,” Tanner stated.
PFF President Syed Mohsen Gilani echoed this urgency, acknowledging that the reform process had been overdue for far too long. He noted that while the PFF had allowed its constitutional framework to remain largely unchanged for ten years, other federations across the region and beyond had made significant strides in modernizing their governance structures. “The revision of the statutes has been pending for a decade whilst other federations have moved light-years ahead, so we need to ensure it happens now,” he said.
Tanner further connected the quality of governance directly to performance on the field, arguing that footballing progress cannot be achieved without a modern and well-functioning administrative foundation.
He made clear that an outdated federation structure acts as a ceiling on sporting ambition and that genuine development of the game must be grounded in institutional reform. “You are not going to progress at a sporting level with an archaic federation,” he remarked, stressing that football development must remain the ultimate motivation behind all governance efforts.
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Jigmi reinforced the consultative and transparent nature of the revision process, assuring Congress members that all stakeholders would have a voice in shaping the new constitutional framework. He also issued a firm reminder of the consequences of non-compliance, stating that any federation failing to meet its obligations to FIFA and AFC risks losing its membership rights, a status that would have severe implications for Pakistani football at every level.
The workshop signals a renewed commitment from both the PFF leadership and international football authorities to placing Pakistani football on a governance footing that reflects the standards of the modern game.
