AFC Vice President election: Praful Patel trashes Pakistan deal talk
A day after Praful Patel was elected vice-president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), a senior official of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) claimed the All India Football Federation president had offered them playing opportunities in the Indian Super League and more fixtures in return for their support to his candidature. Patel, though, has strongly refuted the claim.
Patel was elected unopposed as AFC’s south zone vice-president during its congress in Manama, Bahrain, on Thursday after his challenger — PFF president Faisal Saleh Hayat — pulled out of the race hours before voting was to take place. Later, NDTV quoted Patel as saying: “Yes, Pakistan agreed to withdraw. It was a good understanding and the decision was taken for the sake of the entire region. India will now have a bigger responsibility towards South Asia.”
But Naveed Haider Khan, the PFF marketing consultant and president of Punjab Football Association, said the decision to withdraw Pakistan’s candidature was taken after a lenghty meeting between Patel and Hayat on Wednesday, where the latter extracted favours not just from India but also other South Asian nations before withdrawing his name.
According to Khan, Patel made the offer to allow three Pakistani players to play in the ISL during the meeting, which was also attended by the heads of Bangladesh and Maldives football federations. There were also talks of a bilateral series between the two nations.
“Three Pakistan players will be inducted into the ISL next season. I reminded Mr Patel that there was also a deal for Pakistan players to be inducted into the inaugural edition of the league last season, which never happened. But he has assured me there will be opportunities for Pakistan players next season,” Khan said.
Patel, however, denied Khan’s claims. “Not at all true,” he said. When asked if any Pakistani players would feature in the ISL, he replied, “Not that I am aware of.”
Khan said Hayat struck similar deals with Bangladesh and Maldives as well. He said Pakistan have been invited by Maldives to play a tournament while Bangladesh too have offered to play friendly matches.
