Eurasia Press & News
TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- FIFA officially informed the Islamic Republic of Iran Football Federation (IRIFF) on December 19 2006 that the suspension imposed on the federation on 23 November 2006 had been lifted.
Therefore, the IRIFF and its clubs, referees, officials, etc, may participate in all international football competitions and activities with immediate effect, Iran Football website reported.
The FIFA Emergency Committee, composed of the FIFA President and one representative of each of the six confederations, took the decision to lift the ban on 18 December as a result of a series of cooperative negotiations between FIFA, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the IRIFF and the Physical Education Organization (PEO) of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The negotiations resulted in the establishment of a Transitory Board of the IRIFF, jointly recognized by FIFA and the PEO, with the following duties:
– The management of Iranian football at national and international levels;
– The drafting and ratification of new statutes for the IRIFF based on the FIFA Standard Statutes;
– The organizations of elections for the future leadership of the IRIFF, based on these new statutes and with the support of FIFA and the AFC.
The Transitory Board is to be composed of Mohsen Safaei Farahani as chairman, Qumars Hashemi as deputy chairman and Mohammad Hassan Ansarifar, Dr Hassan Ghaffari, Dr Mohammad Khabiri and Ali Reghbati as members (listed in English alphabetical order).
It is planned that the whole process of transition will be completed by 31 March 2007.
With this commitment, the IRIFF is now in a position to normalize its structure and statutes in accordance with the FIFA and AFC regulations. This development signifies that the objections raised by FIFA, which gave rise to the suspension of the IRIFF, have been removed.
