FIFA suspends Greek football association
4/7/2006 15:23
The world soccer ruling body FIFA suspended Greece from international
competitions yesterday citing the government's interference in the domestic
running of the sport.
FIFA said in a statement that the FIFA Emergency
Committee decided to suspend the Greece football federation(HFF), having
determined that the situation of the HFF is not in line with the principles of
the FIFA Statutes regarding "the independence of member associations and the
independence of the decision-making process of the football-governing body" in
each country.
"In September 2005, the FIFA Executive Committee gave the HFF a
deadline of 15 July 2006 to obtain from the Greek government an amendment to the
national law on sports in order to enable the association to be in conformity
with the FIFA Statutes and the relevant UEFA regulations," the statement
said.
"In spite of repeated warnings from both FIFA and UEFA, the commitment
expressed by Greek government representatives to amend the law on sport to
irrevocably recognize that football matters can only be decided by the HFF and
its subordinated football structures has not been respected," it added.
The
international football body also warned that all Greek clubs and officials are
now covered by the suspension until the law is amended.
However, Greek Deputy
Culture Minister for Sport George Orfanos disclosed that the issue will come to
an end next week and that there is no danger of Greek clubs being expelled from
European competitions.
xinhua
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