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Rivals claim Pakistan body election was not held

(Reuters) - The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) found itself mired in a messy power struggle over Friday's election of its largest regional body with a rival group claiming voting never took place. Sardar Naveed Haider has been elected to head the Punjab Football Association (PFA) until 2019, PFF president Faisal Saleh Hayat has announced, claiming the election was held under FIFA guidelines. Haider's rivals, however, claimed the election never took place. "They postponed the elections," former PFF secretary Hafiz Salman Butt told the Dawn newspaper. "They never held them whilst we were there at the PFF House," he added. Haider had earlier told the same newspaper his phone line had been hacked and he had received threats if he did not withdraw from the race. Haider's both rivals in the PFA elections were government-backed candidates, the newspaper said. His victory was seen as a win for Hayat, who is expected to face a strong challenge from another government-backed candidate for his position in July, possibly from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's son-in-law. Haider said his rivals were free to move court if they were unhappy. "I'm the legally-elected PFA president now and if they have any reservations, they can take the case to court but they can't take away my right from me," he told the same newspaper. (Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)