GENEVA - Fifa yesterday warned Iraq that it would consider suspending the country's football association unless its football chiefs were reinstated within 72 hours.

GENEVA - Fifa yesterday warned Iraq that it would consider suspending the country's football association unless its football chiefs were reinstated within 72 hours.

Fifa said that it had learnt that "the Iraqi Olympic Committee announced the dissolution of the governing board of the Iraqi Football Association (IFA)".

"If the decision to dissolute IFA is not cancelled within 72 hours (starting on November 16), and if the IFA headquarters are not returned to the IFA within the same deadline, Fifa will have no choice but to refer the issue to the Fifa Emergency Committee," it said.

Fifa has expressed growing concern about possible political interference in Iraqi football. It said the basis for the Iraq Olympic Committee's decision was "incomprehensible".

In September, Fifa gave the IFA until April 30 2010 to elect a new board. But recently it reiterated concerns about interference from some quarters in the government. - Sapa-AFP