FIFA is threatening to suspend the Brazilian Football Federation following the court’s impeachment of the Confederation’s president
A court in Rio de Janeiro removed Ednaldo Rodrigues and all his appointees at CBF from office on December 7, citing irregularities in his election last year.
Rio de Janeiro: FIFA warned Brazil it could suspend its national teams and clubs from international competitions if an intervention by the football body led to the election of a new president in January.
FIFA said in a letter to a Brazilian football executive that football’s governing body CBF could be suspended if it does not heed its call to wait and instead hold snap elections to replace Ednaldo Rodrigues as president anyway. The document was obtained by The Associated Press.
A court in Rio de Janeiro removed Rodrigues and all his appointees at CBF from office on December 7, citing irregularities in his election last year. Brazil’s two highest courts upheld that ruling last week.
Football’s governing body, FIFA, has historically rejected any government and third-party interference in its member associations, which could ultimately leave five-time World Cup winners Brazil out of the major competitions until the crisis is resolved.
The Rio court ruling also named José Perdiz, the head of Brazil’s top sports court, as an intervener to organize new presidential elections within 30 working days. FIFA stated in previous letters to the CBF that it considers the intervention unjustified.
Sunday’s letter was signed by Kenny Jean-Marie of FIFA, FIFA’s main membership association, and CONMEBOL Deputy Secretary General Monserrat Jiménez Garcia. FIFA and South American football association CONMEBOL also said in the letter that they will form a committee to discuss the issue on January 8 in Brazil.
“FIFA and CONMEBOL would like to strongly emphasize that until such a mission takes place, no decision affecting the CBF will be made, including any elections or calls for elections. Should this not be respected, FIFA will have no choice but to refer the matter to the relevant decision-making body for consideration and decision, which may include a suspension,” the letter said.
“For the record, we would also like to emphasize that if CBF were ultimately suspended by the relevant FIFA body, it would lose all its membership rights with immediate effect until the suspension is lifted by FIFA.
“This would also mean that CBF representatives and club teams would no longer have the right to participate in an international competition while it is suspended,” it added. The document also says that any irregular interference with its affiliated associations “may lead to sanctions as provided for in the FIFA Statutes, including suspension, even if the influence of third parties was/was not the fault of the affiliated association concerned. ”
Perdiz said in a statement that he sees FIFA’s letter “as a positive sign.” He also added that he will “call elections within the stipulated time, with the transparency and integrity that are demanded.”
Spokespeople for Rodrigues did not respond to a request for comment from the AP. Rodrigues first took on the position of interim president in 2021, after predecessor Rogério Caboclo was suspended. Local media reported that he is currently in negotiations with other Brazilian football executives to run for president again in new elections or support another candidate.
Rodrigues’ term runs until 2026. He is yet another CBF president to have faced legal problems in recent years, although he is not involved in corruption cases like predecessors Ricardo Teixeira, José Maria Marin and Marco Polo del Nero.
Caboclo was suspended as president in September 2021 in connection with a sexual harassment case at the CBF, which opened the way for vice presidents to choose Rodrigues as the football association’s first black president.
The ruling against the 69-year-old Rodrigues could hurt Brazil’s bid to host the 2027 Women’s World Cup and its quest to hire Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti to lead the national team next year.