February 7 – FIFA has suspended the Congolese FA “with immediate effect” because of third-party interference.
In a statement on Thursday, FIFA said: “FECOFOOT has been suspended with immediate effect due to a particularly serious situation of undue interference by third parties in the affairs of the organisation, which constitutes a clear violation of FECOFOOT’s obligations in accordance with the FIFA Statutes.”
FIFA said two missions, joint with the Confederation of African Football (CAF), were dispatched to Brazzaville ahead of the decision. Article 19.1 of the FIFA Statutes holds that “Each member association shall manage its affairs independently and without undue influence from third parties.”
FIFA said that the suspension would be lifted if several conditions were met, including the return of full control of the federation’s headquarters and other facilities to FECOFOOT.
The suspension casts uncertainty over Congo’s upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Tanzania and Zambia in March. Congo is bottom of Group E with no points. The country’s situation worsened after a FIFA disciplinary panel awarded Niger a 3-0 victory.
This decision followed the cancellation of their scheduled match in June last year. Congo had been designated as the home team for the fixture, which was set to be played in Kinshasa, DR Congo, due to the unavailability of a suitable stadium in Congo-Brazzaville. However, the team refused to travel, insisting that a stadium in Brazzaville was fit to host the game.
On Thursday, FIFA also suspended Pakistan because the federation refused to accept all the amendments to the statutes that the world governing body has proposed that would align the federation with the rest its members worldwide.
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