ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Football Federation has welcomed the decision of FIFA, the sport’s governing body, to reinstate its membership.
FIFA restored its membership on Tuesday, and PFF President Faisal Saleh Hayat told Arab News that this was “a welcome and positive development for football in Pakistan.
“I am thankful to FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, president of the Asian Football Confederation, for their support and hope their help will continue,” he added.
FIFA had suspended the PFF on Oct. 11, 2017 when its offices and accounts were in the control of a court-appointed administrator, which constituted a violation of its obligations to manage its affairs independently and without influence from any third parties.
Early this month, Lahore High Court bench recognized the PFF’s elections held on June 30, 2015.
After the verdict Hayat, a former federal minister, was reinstated as the president of the PFF, and this paved the way for restoration of its membership. Hayat had been elected as president for a four-year term in 2015, but the decision was challenged and became the subject of a court appeal.
Pakistan Football Federation welcomes reinstatement by FIFA
Pakistan Football Federation welcomes reinstatement by FIFA
Pogacar targets Tour de France Paris-Roubaix and Milan-San Remo in 2026
- “If I could choose between a win at Roubaix or the Tour, I would choose Roubaix,” said Pogacar
- “There is a bigger difference between zero and one than between four and five“
BENIDORM, Spain: Cycling superstar Tadej Pogacar of the Team UAE Emirates will try for a fifth Tour de France title in 2026 but is more excited by the two one-day Monuments that have so far eluded him; Paris-Roubaix and Milan San Remo.
The 27-year-old Slovenian was speaking on Saturday at a pre-season training camp at Benidorm in Spain.
“I’m going to do Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, the Tour de Romandie, and the Tour de France. And then we’ll see, that’s already quite a lot,” Pogacar said.
“If I could choose between a win at Roubaix or the Tour, I would choose Roubaix because I have already won the Tour four times,” said Pogacar, who complained of feeling drained during the 2025 Tour.
“There is a bigger difference between zero and one than between four and five,” he added.
Tour de France champion in 2020, 2021, 2024 and 2025, he can join an elite clique of five-time winners alongside Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Miguel Indurain and Jacques Anquetil next July.
The team also confirmed that last year’s break-out rider Isaac del Toro would also race the Tour de France.
The Mexican burst on to the cycling scene last May when he came close to winning the Giro, finishing second to Simon Yates.
“The team’s idea is for me to learn as much as possible alongside Tadej, whose level I want to reach one day,” said Del Toro.
