The world football body FIFA has upheld the decision to suspend Sri Lanka and strip the country of its voting rights.
During the FIFA Congress a total of 197 members voted for the suspension of the Sri Lanka Football Federation, a move which means the country will not have a right to vote.
Gianni Infantino re-elected as president of FIFA until 2027 after standing unopposed at the 73rd congress of world football’s governing body in Kigali on Thursday.
Infantino was first elected to office during the 2016 FIFA Extraordinary Congress in February 2016 and was re-elected in June 2019.
As a result, national teams and club teams of the country will not be eligible to participate in international competitions until the suspension decision is reversed. In addition, no member or official of the federation can benefit from FIFA development programmes, courses, or training.
On 21 January 2023, FIFA announced the suspension of FFSL until further notice due to political interference, pursuant to a decision taken by the Bureau of the FIFA Council. The FFSL thereby lost all of its membership rights defined in Article 13 of FIFA Statutes.
Further, the congress cast 199 votes to extend the suspension of ZIFA due to government interference. FIFA first took the decision to suspend ZIFA on 24 February 2022 and was confirmed on 31 March 2022.
The Congress said that as the Zimbabwe federation did not fulfil the request to lift the suspension, which is in violation of FIFA statutes, it recommends reinstating the suspension once again.
Meanwhile, Gianni Infantino was re-elected as the FIFA president until 2027 for a third term, after standing unopposed at the Congress.
