An overwhelming majority of 195 FIFA members voted to allow the football governing body to lift Pakistan’s ban once all requirements are met. The voting took place at the Doha Exhibition and Cultural Centre, which will also host the draw for the 2022 World Cup group stage in Qatar.
195 members voted in favor of lifting the ban on Pakistan, whereas 4 members voted against the uplifting of the ban. FIFA suspended the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) in April 2021 after the Normalisation Committee (NC) of the PFF was pushed out of office by a group of officials led by Ashfaq Hussain Shah, who was elected president of the PFF in a Supreme Court-supervised election in December 2018. FIFA rejected that election, and in September 2019, it appointed the NC for the PFF to hold new elections.
Last month, the PFF NC regained possession of its Lahore headquarters after the government pledged to back it unconditionally in an attempt to lift Pakistan’s suspension. FIFA will lift the suspension as soon as the NC regains control of the accounts and fulfills all the requirements. Pakistan aspires to resurrect and promote the world’s most popular sport in the country.
