Bosnia on collision course with FIFA

Bosnia remained on a collision course with FIFA yesterday after repeating its refusal to make required changes to its football federation (NSBIH) statute. FIFA and UEFA have threatened to exclude Bosnia from international competition unless it accepted...

Bosnia remained on a collision course with FIFA yesterday after repeating its refusal to make required changes to its football federation (NSBIH) statute.

FIFA and UEFA have threatened to exclude Bosnia from international competition unless it accepted changes aimed at replacing the NSBIH’s ethnic-based tripartite presidency by a single president.

“Imposing a single president will never get support of any structure in Republika Srpska,” Rajko Vasic, executive secretary of the ruling Union of Independent Social-Democrats (SNSD) said.

Post-war Bosnia consists of two semi independent entities – the Serb-run Republika Srpska and the Muslim-Croat Federation.

Vasic added that there were “incredible pressures from Sarajevo and some international associations that demand centralisation of football organisations in Bosnia”.

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