PFF 'unable to obtain' NOC from PSB for under-17 SAFF Championship

KARACHI: The Pakistan Football Federation's (PFF) Normalisation Committee has expressed its inability to resubmit the No Objection Certificate (NOC) request for the national under-17 football team's participation in the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship, sources have revealed.

According to sources, the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) had instructed the PFF through an email on September 6 to resubmit the NOC application.

Sources say that due to time constraints, the PFF is unable to prepare a new request. The PFF initially sent an NOC request to the PSB on August 22 for the team's participation in the event. 

However, the PSB had instructed the PFF to have the documents signed by Chairman NC-PFF Haroon Malik, while the current documents bear the signature of Normalisation Committee member Shahid Khokhar.

The Pakistan under-17 football team is set to participate in the SAFF Championship, scheduled to take place in Bhutan from September 20. The team is scheduled to depart for the event on September 16.

Sources further disclosed that the PSB is currently working on the NOC process, and despite objections to the initial request from the PFF, it had initiated the processing.