FIFA has warned Brazil that its national teams and clubs may face sanctions from international tournaments if its football body intervenes in the election of a new president in January.
The game’s governing body stated in a letter to a Brazilian soccer official on Sunday that the country’s soccer organization CBF might risk suspension if it does not follow its recommendation to wait and instead stages a quick election to replace Ednaldo Rodrigues as president anyway. The Associated Press received the document.
Rodrigues and all of his appointees at CBF were ousted from office by a Rio de Janeiro court on December 7 owing to irregularities in his election last year. Last Thursday, Brazil’s two highest courts affirmed the verdict.
FIFA, soccer’s governing body, has long rejected government and third-party meddling in its member organizations, which might eventually force five-time World Cup champion Brazil to withdraw from key events until the situation is resolved.
The letter was signed on Sunday by FIFA’s chief members’ association officer, Kenny Jean-Marie, and CONMEBOL’s deputy secretary-general, Monserrat Jiménez Garcia.
FIFA and South American soccer organization CONMEBOL also said in the letter that a panel would be formed to address the situation in Brazil on January 8.