KHARTOUM, Sudan - Fifa has given Sudan an August 15 deadline to rerun their Football Association presidential elections or face suspension from international soccer.
Fifa said it did not recognise the Sudanese Football Association (SFA) vote on July 26, which elected Mutasim Jaafar as the new president, because the government barred former SFA chief Kamal Shaddad from standing for a third term.
"Fifa's emergency committee decided not to recognise the results of the elections and to set a deadline of August 15 to hold new elections in compliance with the SFA statutes and without any influence of third parties," world soccer's governing body said in a statement sent to Reuters yesterday.
A possible suspension would threaten Sudan's eligibility to play in their September 3 opening African Nations Cup qualifier against Congo.
SFA general secretary Majdi Shamseddin said yesterday that they would hold an emergency meeting to discuss Fifa's demand.
"We will try to do our best to deal with the matter and avoid any kind of misunderstanding between Fifa, the SFA and the government," he said.
Shamseddin said the rule preventing Shaddad from standing for a third term was a Sudanese law and not included in SFA statutes, which was why Fifa had objected.
He said one option to resolve the conflict was for the SFA general assembly to vote to include the law in the SFA statutes but said any final decision would be taken at the meeting late yesterday. x
Sudan face Fifa threat
KHARTOUM, Sudan - Fifa has given Sudan an August 15 deadline to rerun their Football Association presidential elections or face suspension from international soccer.
Fifa said it did not recognise the Sudanese Football Association (SFA) vote on July 26, which elected Mutasim Jaafar as the new president, because the government barred former SFA chief Kamal Shaddad from standing for a third term.
"Fifa's emergency committee decided not to recognise the results of the elections and to set a deadline of August 15 to hold new elections in compliance with the SFA statutes and without any influence of third parties," world soccer's governing body said in a statement sent to Reuters yesterday.
A possible suspension would threaten Sudan's eligibility to play in their September 3 opening African Nations Cup qualifier against Congo.
SFA general secretary Majdi Shamseddin said yesterday that they would hold an emergency meeting to discuss Fifa's demand.
"We will try to do our best to deal with the matter and avoid any kind of misunderstanding between Fifa, the SFA and the government," he said.
Shamseddin said the rule preventing Shaddad from standing for a third term was a Sudanese law and not included in SFA statutes, which was why Fifa had objected.
He said one option to resolve the conflict was for the SFA general assembly to vote to include the law in the SFA statutes but said any final decision would be taken at the meeting late yesterday. x
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