FIFA Suspends Congo Indefinitely

FIFA Suspends Congo Indefinitely

FIFA has suspended the Congolese Football Federation (FECOFOOT) this Thursday. The suspension is till further notice. FIFA has already notified all its member associations

FIFA Statutes’ article 16 was cited as the reason. Congo’s team, known as the Red Devils are in the same World Cup qualifying group as Morocco, Tanzania, Zambia, Niger Republic and Eritrea.

Their next match is supposed to be an away duel with Tanzania. The match may not hold except the suspension is lifted before then. They lost their Group E World Cup qualifying match 6-0 at home to Morocco last June.

FECOFOOT loses all its membership rights, as defined in Article 13 of the statutes of the world body, with immediate effect and until further notice.

FECOFOOT representative teams and affiliated clubs can no longer take part in international competitions while the suspension is in force.

They are not qualified for the 2025 Afcon in Morocco and no Congolese club is involved in the quarter-finals of the CAF inter-club competitions this season.

According to FIFA, the decision was taken in consultation with CAF after two FIFA/CAF missions were dispatched to Brazzaville.

The lifting of the suspension will be subject to the following conditions:

Returning full control of the FECOFOOT headquarters, the Ignié Technical Centre and the association’s other facilities to FECOFOOT;

Desisting from any efforts to change the signatories of the FECOFOOT bank accounts and/or giving full control back to the signatories recognised by FIFA and CAF;

Declaring invalid or setting aside any decisions, legal or otherwise, authorising the ad hoc committee to exercise any control or have any authority over FECOFOOT; and

Ensuring full cooperation to allow FECOFOOT to manage its affairs without undue influence from third parties.