FIFA has traditionally rejected government and third-party influence in its member associations, which might eventually exclude Brazil from major competitions.
FIFA warned Brazil on Sunday that it may suspend its national teams and clubs from international competitions if its football body intervenes and results in the election of a new president in January.
FIFA warned a Brazilian football executive in a letter that the country’s football authority, CBF, might risk suspension if it does not heed FIFA’s demand to wait and instead stages a quick election to replace Ednaldo Rodrigues as president. 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 due to irregularities in his election last year. Last Thursday, Brazil’s two highest courts upheld the ruling.
FIFA, soccer’s governing body, has long rejected government and third-party meddling in its member associations, which might eventually force five-time World Cup champion Brazil to withdraw from key competitions until the situation is resolved.
Who Was Nominated For The President’s Post?
The Rio court order also nominated José Perdiz, the president of Brazil’s highest sports court, as an intervener to organize new presidential elections within 30 working days. FIFA has already said in letters to CBF that the intervention is excessive.
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 football organization CONMEBOL also stated in the letter that a panel will be formed to discuss the subject in Brazil on January 8.
“FIFA and CONMEBOL would like to strongly emphasize that, until such mission takes place, no decision affecting CBF, including any elections or call for elections, shall be taken. Should this not be respected, FIFA will have no other option but to submit the matter to its relevant decision-making body for consideration and decision, which might also include a suspension,” the letter said.
“For the sake of good order, we would also like to underline that should CBF be eventually suspended by the relevant FIFA body, it would lose all of its membership rights with immediate effect and until the suspension is lifted by FIFA. This would also mean that CBF representative and clubs teams would no longer be entitled to take part in any international competition while it is suspended,” it added.
According to the paper, any irregular interference in its member associations “can lead to sanctions as provided for in the FIFA Statutes, including suspension, and this even if the third-party influence was/is not the fault of the member association concerned.”
What Does Perediz Says About His Nomination?
In a statement, Perdiz said he sees FIFA’s letter as a “positive sign.” He went on to say that he would “call for the elections within the established deadline, with the transparency and integrity that are demanded.”
Rodrigues’ representatives did not respond to an AP request for comment.
Rodrigues was appointed interim president in 2021, following the suspension of predecessor Rogério Caboclo. According to local media, he is currently in talks with other Brazilian football executives about running for president again in future elections or supporting another candidate.
Rodrigues’ time in office ends in 2026. He is yet another CBF president to face legal issues in recent years, albeit unlike predecessors Ricardo Teixeira, José Maria Marin, and Marco Polo del Nero, he is not involved in corruption charges.
