FIFA Punishes Pakistan, Football's Global Governing Body Makes PAK Pay After They Fail To Make Necessary Amendments

The International Football Federation (FIFA) has suspended the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) after it failed to make amendments to its constitution which the world body deemed necessary for smooth and just governance of the sport in the country. The world body said Pakistan would remain suspended until the PFF congress made those amendments. Pakistan football has been run by a FIFA appointed Normalisation Committee since June 2019 which was tasked with holding elections and cleaning up parallel groupings in the football set-up but it has failed to execute these plans properly.

FIFA had also suspended the president of Panama's soccer federation for a fat-shaming comment about a star player in the women's national team earlier this year. Manual Arias suggested midfielder Marta Cox was “fat” after she made critical comments about the set-up at the national team, which qualified for the 2023 Women's World Cup. “President Arias has been banned for six months, until July 14, 2025, during which he will not be able to participate in activities related to federated soccer,” the Panamanian soccer federation said in a statement.

The ban removes Arias from a series of men's national team games in the CONCACAF region: Nations League games in March, two 2026 World Cup qualifiers in June and the Gold Cup tournament in the United States scheduled June 14-July 6. Panama reached the final of the men's 2023 Gold Cup, losing to Mexico. Arias said on social media that his ban was because of “unfortunate” comments in March 2024.

“I used some very unfortunate language that should never be used,” Arias said on X, formerly known as Twitter. The federation said vice president Fernando Arce will act as interim leader until the ban expires, and acknowledged it still had work to do in women's soccer. Cox recently signed for Turkish club Fenerbahce after playing in Mexico for Xolos. The 27-year-old player scored at the Women's World Cup in a 6-3 loss to France in the group stage.