FIFA has warned the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) that it may remove the nation’s clubs and national teams from international tournaments if the soccer organization intervenes and a new president is elected in January 2024.
FIFA threatened to suspend Brazil’s soccer organization, CBF, in a letter addressed to the organization’s president, Ednaldo Rodrigues, if a quick election is not held.
Due to anomalies in Rodrigues’ election from the previous year, a Rio de Janeiro court dismissed him from office on December 7 along with all of his CBF appointees. Last Monday, that decision was upheld by Brazil’s two highest courts.
José Perdiz, the chairman of Brazil’s highest sports court, was also nominated as an intervenor in the Rio court order, with the responsibility of setting up new presidential elections within 30 working days. In earlier correspondence with CBF, FIFA stated that it believed the involvement to be excessive.
FIFA’s Chief Members’ Association Officer Kenny Jean-Marie and CONMEBOL’s Deputy Secretary-General Monserrat Jiménez Garcia signed the letter.
In the letter, FIFA and South American soccer organization CONMEBOL also stated that they will set up a commission to meet in Brazil on January 8 to discuss the issue.
FIFA, the body that oversees soccer, has consistently resisted intervention from the government and outside parties in its member associations. As a result, Brazil, the five-time World Cup winners, may be excluded from important competitions until the problem is resolved.