The International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) on Friday suspended the membership of the Football Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FFBH), which means that the country's national team and clubs will not be able to play international matches until further notice.
The suspension came after the FFBH General Assembly failed to adopt changes to the FFBH statute in line with FIFA and UEFA's recommendations, which asked, among other things, that the country's football federation no longer have a three-member presidency.
The changes were requested back in November last year, with FIFA and UEFA saying that they had requested the FFBH to amend its statute according to their minimum requirements.
The FFBH General Assembly, held in Sarajevo on 29 March 2011, did not achieve the necessary quorum of support to adopt the statute, with only 22 out of the 54 delegates present voting in favour of amending it. Four delegates abstained and 28 voted in favour of keeping the existing statute. Under that statute, a Croat, a Bosniak and a Serb representative rotate in the post of FFBH president.
The suspension is effective as of April 1, and the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be considered again on June 16 at a meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee.
Bosnia's national team will be harmed the most by this decision because it plays qualifiers for the 2012 European championships and last week it got back in the game for the first two places in its group by beating Romania 2:1. Bosnia are expected to play the next match in Romania on June 3 and if the suspension remains, they could eventually be thrown out of the qualifications.
