Bosnia suspended from international competition

LONDON: Football’s world and European governing bodies suspended Bosnia from international competition on Friday after the country’s football federation (NFSBiH) failed to adopt new statutes in line with FIFA and UEFA rules.

The decision means Bosnia may not be able to carry on playing their Euro 2012 qualifiers, although the governing bodies said they would meet shortly to discuss how to bring the country back into the international fold as soon as possible.FIFA and UEFA had asked the NFSBiH to replace its rotating three-man presidential system, which operates on an ethnic basis, by March 31.However, the association’s congress rejected a motion that would meet that request this week, leading to the suspension.Under the current statutes, a Serb, a Croat and an ethnic Muslim take turns in holding the post.“The NFSBiH general assembly held in Sarajevo on 29 March 2011 did not achieve the necessary quorum of support to adopt the NFSBiH statutes,” a joint statement from FIFA and UEFA said on Friday.“Consequently, the NFSBiH loses all its membership rights with immediate effect and until further notice. The NFSBiH 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 solved.“This also means that, as of 1 April 2011, no NFSBiH official or representative may participate in any international match or event.“FIFA and UEFA deeply regret that this decision had to be taken and will meet shortly to discuss the next steps required to try to bring NFSBiH back into the football family as soon as possible.”Bosnia are in a good position in qualifying for next year’s European Championship finals.They are fourth in Group D, five points behind leaders France and a point behind Belarus and Albania but with a game in hand on all three.The group winners qualify automatically for the finals in Poland and Ukraine, with the second-placed team retaining a chance of going through either from a play-off or as the best of the runners-up.Bosnia’s next game is not until June 3, when they are due to play away to Romania.