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RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — FIFA warned Brazil on Sunday that it could suspend its domestic groups and clubs from foreign competitions if an intervention through its soccer structure leads to the election of a new president in January.
FIFA said in a letter to a Brazilian soccer executive that the CBF, the country’s soccer body, could be suspended if it does not respond to its call to wait and hold early elections to update Ednaldo Rodrigues as president. The document received through The Associated Press.
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A Rio de Janeiro court removed Rodrigues and all his appointees at CBF from office on Dec. 7 due to irregularities in his election last year. Brazil’s two highest courts upheld that ruling last week.
Soccer’s governing body, FIFA, has traditionally rejected government and third-party interference in its member associations, which could ultimately exclude five-time World Cup winners Brazil from primary competitions until the crisis is resolved.
The Rio court’s ruling also appointed Jose Perdiz, president of Brazil’s sports court, as an intervenor to hold new presidential elections within 30 consecutive days. FIFA has said in previous letters to the CBF that it considers the intervention unjustified.
Sunday’s letter was signed through FIFA’s Kenny Jean-Marie, head of FIFA’s membership association, and CONMEBOL deputy secretary general Monserrat Jimenez Garcia.
FIFA and South American soccer body CONMEBOL also said in the letter that they would form a committee to discuss the issue in Brazil on Jan. 8.
“FIFA and CONMEBOL wish to strongly emphasize that, until such a project is carried out, no decisions affecting the CBF will be made, nor will elections be added or elections called. If this is fulfilled, FIFA will still not have any selection for refer the matter to your applicable decision-making framework for review and decision, which could also lead to suspension,” the letter said.
“For the sake of smart order, we would also like to emphasise that if the CBF is ultimately suspended through the relevant FIFA body, it will lose all of its club rights with immediate effect and until the suspension is lifted through FIFA. This also means that CBF representative groups and clubs will no longer be able to participate in any foreign festivals while it is suspended.
The document also states that any illegal interference in its member agreements “may lead to sanctions as provided for in the FIFA Statutes, including suspension, even if the influence of third parties was/is the fault of the member agreement in question. »
Perdiz said in a statement that he considered FIFA’s letter “a positive sign. “He also added that he would “call elections on time, with the required transparency and integrity. “
Spokespeople for Rodrigues responded to a request for comment from the AP.
Rodrigues first took over as interim president in 2021 after his predecessor Rogerio Caboclo was suspended. Local media reported that he was in negotiations with other Brazilian soccer leaders to run for president in new elections or for some other candidate.
Rodrigues’ term will last until 2026. Es another CBF president who has faced judicial orders in recent years; he is not worried about corruption cases like his predecessors Ricardo Teixeira, José María Marín and Marco Polo del Nero.
Caboclo was suspended from the presidency in September 2021 as part of a sexual harassment case at the CBF, which paved the way for vice presidents to elect Rodrigues as the soccer body’s first black president.
The resolution opposing Rodrigues, 69, could hurt Brazil’s bid to host the Women’s World Cup in 2027 and its bid to hire Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti to lead the national team next year.
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