Kenya, Zimbabwe suspended by FIFA

World football governing body Fifa has suspended Kenya and Zimbabwe, president Giani Infantino has confirmed. The Kenyan and Zimbabwean football federations were suspended by FIFA on Thursday due to government interference, the world governing body said.

“Without prejudice to investigations by national authorities or other judiciary bodies, the FIFA Council has decided to suspend the Kenya Football Federation and the Zimbabwe Football Federation with immediate effect for undue influence by a third party,” said a FIFA statement.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino later gave more details on the reasons for the suspensions, referring at a press conference to “government interference in the activities of the football federation”.

“They know what needs to be done for the suspension to be lifted,” he added.

The FIFA Council met briefly by videoconference on Thursday, without taking any major action on the project to reform the international calendar which could see a World Cup every two years, an idea promoted by FIFA but opposed by European and South American federations.

FIFA was founded in 1904 to oversee international competition among the national associations of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland, its membership now comprises 211 national associations. These national associations must each also be members of one of the six regional confederations into which the world is divided: Africa, Asia, Europe, North & Central America and the Caribbean, Oceania and South America.

AFP