KARACHI: The participation of the Pakistan women’s football team in this month’s South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Women’s Championship is at risk as the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) has declined to issue a no-objection certificate (NOC), a private news channel reported.
The tournament is set to take place from October 17 to 30 in Nepal. In a letter addressed to the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF), the PSB cited delays in the NOC request submission and the lack of a signature from the chairman of the Normalisation Committee (NC) as reasons for their decision.
The PSB had previously reminded the PFF on September 12 about the necessary protocols for obtaining the NOC. However, the PFF’s submission was not only late but also lacked the required signature from NC chairman Haroon Malik, as it was signed by NC member Shahid Khokhar instead. The PSB stated that these omissions prevented them from processing the application.
In their letter, the sports board expressed regret, stating, “Since the instructions issued by the PSB have not been followed, we regret to inform you that, due to time constraints and non-compliance with our procedural requirements, the PSB is unable to process the NOC request for participation in this event.”
Currently, the Pakistan women’s football team is training in Islamabad, with plans to leave for Nepal on October 12. However, the lack of an NOC raises uncertainty about their participation in the tournament.
The Pakistan football teams have faced similar NOC issues in the past, creating tensions between the PFF and the PSB. While there have been last-minute resolutions previously, the current situation remains unresolved.
