Iran banned from international football

Iran Focus: London, Nov. 23 – Iran has been banned international football games by the world soccer federation for government interference in the affairs of its national team.
Iran Focus

London, Nov. 23 – Iran has been banned international football games by the world soccer federation for government interference in the affairs of its national team.

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) said in a statement on Thursday that an emergency committee, composed of the FIFA President and one representative of each of the six football confederations, had on Wednesday decided to suspend the Islamic Republic of Iran Football Federation (IRIFF) from all international activity due to “government interference in football matters and violation of Article 17 of the FIFA Statutes”.

“The FIFA Emergency Committee took this decision after determining that the IRIFF was not adhering to the principles of the FIFA Statutes regarding the independence of member associations, the independence of the decision-making process of the football governing body in each country and the way in which changes in the leadership of associations are brought about”, the statement said.

In August 2006, FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) gave the IRIFF a deadline of 15 November to reinstate its elected president, Mohammed Dadgan, and to comply with the relevant provisions of the FIFA Statutes. “This deadline was not met by the IRIFF”.