Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka were today (16) suspended from voting during FIFA elections.
This was as close to 2,000 delegates including top football executives from world football governing body (FIFA) met in Kigali for the long-awaited 73rd FIFA Congress. The FIFA Congress, the supreme legislative body of FIFA, brings together top executives from FIFA, confederations and representatives from 211-member associations and other football stakeholders.
Of the 211 associations, 199 member associations voted in favour of a motion to suspend Zimbabwe. The Congress said that since the Zimbabwe federation didn’t fulfill the request to lift the suspension, which violates FIFA statutes, it recommended once again that the suspension be reinstated.
The congress also voted 197 votes for the suspension of the Sri Lanka Football Federation.
This means that none of the above countries will have a right to vote nor its membership rights at the congress until they work on lifting the suspension.
In January, FIFA suspended the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) over political interference after the federation’s presidential elections fell short of Zurich’s standards.
Meanwhile, Gianni Infantino was re-elected as president of FIFA until 2027 after standing unopposed at the 73rd congress of world football’s governing body in Kigali on Thursday.
