A country has reportedly been threatened by FIFA with a ban from participating in international football and the World Cup in 2026 after the organisation sent an official letter to the government of that country.
The United States of America, Canada, and Mexico are the co-hosts of the upcoming World Cup. In addition, four other countries have successfully qualified for the tournament.
Beginning earlier this week, Iran and Japan qualified from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) section, while Argentina already qualified from the South American section. Through their participation in the OFC section, New Zealand has advanced to the tournament as the fourth team.
During the upcoming World Cup, the number of nations that will be competing will increase from 32 to 48. This will provide the nations that are considered to be “smaller” in terms of football with a greater opportunity than ever before to qualify.
Due to suspensions imposed by FIFA, a number of countries will not be able to participate in the World Cup. Russia is not allowed to participate because of their invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Pakistan and Congo are not allowed to qualify because of administrative failures and interference from third parties, respectively. Therefore, Russia is not allowed to participate.
It is possible that another nation, which recently competed against Russia in a friendly match, will now be disqualified from participating in the World Cup.
According to Soccer24.zw, FIFA has sent a letter to the Zambian Football Association to warn them that they may be completely barred from participating in international football competitions.
Initially, the National Sports Council of Zambia (NSCZ), which is a government organisation, had written to FIFA to request the establishment of an independent electoral body and a “thorough review of the Football Association of Zambia’s electoral process.” This information was reported by Soccer24.zw, which is a domain that is used in the neighbouring African country of Zimbabwe.
Under FIFA regulations, any influence from a third party in the footballing affairs of a nation is prohibited, including influence from government bodies.
Andrew Kamanga, the president of the Zambia Football Association, was granted a third term in office without any opposition in February. This was made possible by the fact that eight other candidates were disqualified for lack of compliance with constitutional requirements.
The disqualifications of four candidates, on the other hand, were overturned after independent appeals were filed. The elections are scheduled to take place between the 15th and the 29th of March, with the Zambia Football Association general meeting being scheduled for the 29th of March.
The following is an excerpt from the letter that was sent out by FIFA: “We would like to remind you that every member association of FIFA is statutorily obliged to manage its affairs independently and without undue influence from third parties, including the government bodies.”
In the event that this obligation is violated in any way, sanctions may be imposed as stipulated in the FIFA statutes.
As a consequence of this, in the event that the transitional committee is in fact established, FAZ would be in danger of violating the statutory provisions that were mentioned earlier.
“Should this happen, FIFA will have no option but to submit the matter to its relevant decision-making body for consideration and decision, which might also include the suspension of FAZ.”
While this is going on, Kamanga is confident that FIFA will not prevent Zambia from participating in international football competitions after all.
According to him, “Ideally, it shouldn’t,” “Because, in my opinion, I believe that, with FIFA, we did have a road map, and we agreed in December in that program to have the elections beginning on the 15th of March and continuing all the way through the 29th of March.
Obviously, there have been a variety of opinions and interpretations. At the end of the day, however, as you might anticipate, FIFA only deals with the members of the organisation.
Our expectation is that this matter will be resolved in due time; however, it would be unfortunate if we were to go the route of being sanctioned by FIFA, which is something that I sincerely hope will not occur. In my opinion, it is necessary for everyone to locate areas of agreement.
The current coach of Zambia is Avram Grant, who previously managed Chelsea and West Ham. Grant is currently in charge of Zambia’s team.
Patrick Daka, a forward for Leicester, is their most valuable player. He has scored 21 goals for the national team in his 47 matches for them.
Even though they are a part of a group that has been plagued by a variety of problems, they still have the opportunity to qualify for the World Cup through the African qualifying process.
In response to concerns that its players might seek political asylum in other countries, Eritrea withdrew from the qualifying competition before it even began. Congo, on the other hand, withdrew after playing three games subsequent to their suspension from FIFA.
They are currently currently three points behind Niger, who are in the second and final qualification spot for the next round. They have four matches left to play in the group, and they are currently in second place.
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