FIFA and UEFA suspend Bosnia

Bosnia and Hercegovina was suspended from international and European football yesterday after failing to adopt statutes that would lead to a single-member presidency of the country’s federation (NSBIH).

European and world footballing chiefs from UEFA and FIFA respectively had demanded that NSBIH’s ethnic-based tripartite presidency – consisting of a Croat, a Muslim and a Serb member – be replaced by a single president.

FIFA and UEFA released a joint statement yesterday which said: “The Football Federation of Bosnia and Hercegovina has been suspended until further notice by FIFA and UEFA as of today, 1 April 2011.

“This decision was necessary as the General Assembly of the FFBH did not adopt the statutes according to FIFA and UEFA requirements.

“The Executive Committees of FIFA (on 28 October 2010) and UEFA (on 4 October 2010) had requested the FFBH to adopt the statutes according to FIFA and UEFA minimum requirements by no later than 31 March 2011, otherwise the FFBH would be automatically suspended.

“The FFBH General Assembly, held in Sarajevo on 29 March 2011, did not achieve the necessary quorum of support to adopt the FFBH statutes, with only 22 out of the 54 delegates present voting in favour of amending the FFBH statutes.

“Consequently, the FFBH has lost all of its membership rights with immediate effect.

“The FFBH representative and club teams are no longer entitled to take part in international competitions as of 1 April 2011 and until the aforementioned problem is resolved. This also means that, as of 1 April 2011, no FFBH official or representative may participate in any international match or event.”

Bosnia are currently involved in qualifying for Euro 2012. They are in Group D, which is currently topped by France, and their next game is against Romania on June 3.