FIFA suspends Bosnia-Herzegovina for not complying with regulations

FIFA suspends Bosnia-Herzegovina for not complying with regulations

2011-04-01 23:42:08 GMT+7 (ICT)

ZURICH (BNO NEWS) -- The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) on Friday suspended the Football Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina (FFBH/NSBiH) for not complying with regulations.

Bosnia-Herzegovina was suspended until further notice from all football competitions. Both FIFA and UEFA, the European football body, decided to suspend FFBH as it did not adopt the statutes required.

In October 2010, the FFBH was requested to adopt the statutes according to FIFA and UEFA minimum requirements by no later than March 31, 2011. On Tuesday, the FFBH General Assembly held in Sarajevo failed to gain the necessary support to adopt the statutes.

Only 22 out of 54 delegates voted in favor of amending the FFBH statutes. In consequence, Bosnia-Herzegovina lost all of its membership rights and its national team and club teams are no longer entitled to take part in international competitions.

This also means that, as of Friday, no Bosnian official or representative may participate in any international match or event. Bosnia-Herzegovina is currently fourth in its group in 2012 European Championships qualifying stage.

If the suspension is not lifted, Bosnia will loose the remaining fixtures and be eliminated from the competition. The next match of Bosnia-Herzegovina is scheduled on June 3 against Romania.

"FIFA and UEFA deeply regret that this decision had to be taken and will meet shortly to discuss the next steps required to try to bring the FFBH back into the football family as soon as possible," said the football federation in a statement.

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