By David Gold
March 29 – Bosnia faces the prospect of being suspended from international football as they refuse to comply with FIFA and UEFA requests to cut the number of its Presidents from three to one.
Bosnia’s football federation is organised in such a way due to the political makeup of the country as a result of the 1992-95 war which followed the breakup of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia in the early 1990s.
It consists of two associations, one Bosnian Serb and the other a combination of Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats, with a member of each group holding one of the respective presidential positions.
Bosnian Serbs traditionally disagree with the idea of a single President, fearing that their autonomy would be at risk otherwise, whilst a number of Bosnian Croats, like their Serbian counterparts, voted against the proposed change.
The head of the Bosnian Serb association, Bogdan Ceko, said that he “does not feel personally responsible for this but we can talk about a collective responsibility.”
The setup in the Football Federation was allowed by FIFA and UEFA up to now, but they feel the country has had enough time to make the transition to a single presidential system, and Bosnia was informed that if they failed to make this change then they would be suspended.
Serbs suggested that the three presidents could rotate to get around the problem, but this has not materialised in practise.
The matter is complicated by the factor that much of the Serbian half of the country supports Serbia rather than the Bosnian national team, whilst many Bosnians voted in favour of the rule change.
Muhidin Rascic, a Bosniak member of the federation’s board, said: “Only I know how much of my life I have invested into all of this and now it’s gone.”
UEFA President Michel Platini will hold an emergency committee with FIFA President Sepp Blatter to confirm their suspension.
This would mean the country’s national and club teams would be barred from international competition, which would have a significant impact on the country’s hopes of qualifying for the European Championships in Ukraine and Poland in 2012.
Bosnia sit fourth in Group D of the qualifying programme, with seven points and a game in hand on Albania and Belarus, who are both a point ahead of them in the group.
Their next qualifiers see them travel to Romania and then host Albania in June.
Bosnia could still play those games if it backs down, but if they do not, they will also forfeit the right to attend the June 1 FIFA Congress and Presidential election.
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