Understanding FIFA’s third-party non-interference principle
By Lesedi Mphahlele | Director & Sello Ramanyana | Candidate Attorney
Many member countries over the world have previously been suspended by FIFA owing to their complete disregard of FIFA’s non-interference principle, which principle seeks to promote the independence of football federations who are member associations of FIFA. On incalculable occasions, the breach of this fundamental principle manifested through political interference in football-related matters where a country’s government would incorrectly assume the prerogative to regulate the affairs of a member association, which conduct is prohibited in terms of the FIFA statutes. This article critically analyses what constitutes third-party interference in light of the FIFA statutes (2022) and the consequences thereof.
FIFA Statutes
For the attainment of complete independence of member associations, FIFA has codified rules in terms of which member associations are to be protected from interference of third parties failing which they shall be suspended from participating in football competitions that are under the custodianship of FIFA.
The FIFA statutes make provision for the above-mentioned protection through Articles 2(2) and 15(c), which Articles provide that:
Article 2(2): “Government interference of any kind in the electoral process or composition of the elective body (general assembly or congress) of the association is not permitted. Consequently, government rules on elections shall not apply to the elected internal bodies of the association and the electoral rules of the association shall not require the approval of any government body”.
Article 15(c): “Member associations’ statutes must comply with the principles of good governance, and shall in particular contain, at a minimum, make provisions relating to the independence of the member association and avoidance of any form of political interference”.
Breach of Statute
In August 2022, FIFA suspended the All-Indian Football Federation (AIFF) with immediate effect due to the undue third-party interference in the AIFF, which conduct amounted to a breach of FIFA’s statutes. This suspension was occasioned by the Indian’s Supreme Court’s order which was to the effect that the long-serving AIFF President, Praful Patel, must step down and the appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) must take over the affairs of the All-Indian Football Association.[1]
This was not the first time FIFA had imposed a similar ban on its member associations. In February 2022, FIFA imposed a suspension on Zimbabwe after the National Executive Committee of the Zimbabwean Football Association (ZIFA) was suspended by its country’s government-appointed Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC). The Zimbabwean SRC was constituted following allegations of sexual harassment of female referees by the technical staff and allegations of fraud within ZIFA. Following the FIFA ban, the Zimbabwean SRC reinstated ZIFA members (July 2022). The ripple effects of these occurrences led to Zimbabwe not being able to participate in the 2023 AFCON due to its continued FIFA ban.
Similar to Zimbabwe, in February 2022, FIFA imposed a suspension on the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) after the Kenya’s Sports Ministry decided to appoint a committee to manage the affairs of the country’s football federation following allegations of financial irregularities within the federation. After the ban was imposed, FIFA demanded the country’s Sports Minister to reverse the appointment of the said committee and demanded that the Minister reverts the control of the FKF to the FKF with the primary objective of not compromising the federation’s independence.
In March 2021, the Chad Football Association was dissolved by its country’s Ministry of Youth and Sports. Consequent to that, FIFA made a determination to ban the country from participating in international competitions. The ban was lifted after seven months (October 2021) when the controlling powers were reverted to the Chad Football Association and the Chad government repealed its decision to establish a National Committee for the temporary management of football in Chad.
In October 2017, Pakistan was banned by FIFA from competing in international competitions due to undue third-party interference. This was after the Pakistan Football Federation’s offices and accounts were placed under the control of a court-appointed administrator, which FIFA considered to be a breach of statute and a limitation to the federation’s exercise of its independence.
In July 2014, FIFA imposed a suspension on the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) following Nigeria’s decision to expel its executive committee and a Nigerian court ordered that a civil servant must be at the helm of the Federation. The suspension was uplifted nine days later after the court order was revoked.
FIFA’s dispute resolution process
Lest we forget that FIFA’s Legal Handbook contains a Code of Conduct and Dispute Resolution processes in terms of which members, including member associations, are to be held accountable in circumstances where there exists a clear breach of the FIFA statute. This effectively means that issues and/or complaints pertaining to the conduct of member associations must be resolved through FIFA’s dispute resolution processes and not through a country’s ordinary courts as different countries apply different laws.
Bona fide challenges
Strict compliance with FIFA’s non-interference principle in the context of African countries where most of which are not self-sufficient remains an insurmountable challenge. In circumstances where the country’s national Football Association is dependent on its government for resources deemed necessary for the achievement of key objectives as set out by the said Football Association, it is inevitable that there will be a certain degree of political interference. However, the question that begs is: To what extent can the government interfere in the affairs of its National Football Association without compromising FIFA’s statutes?
In some countries such as Nigeria, Football Federations are constituted in terms of government statute and/or an Act of Parliament and are consequently regulated in terms of the said statutes. This inevitably creates a difficult pathway for total compliance with the statutes within which the member associations are constituted.
Whilst FIFA provides that national federations must govern themselves in terms of their constitutions, the question that begs is whether independence is truly attainable when the said federations are constituted in terms of an Act of Parliament? In our considered view, this poses a conflict of interest. A federation cannot be constituted in terms of one statute but regulated in terms of the other, unless provisions contained in both statutes are aligned and make room for both to co-exist.
Conclusion
It is important for FIFA’s Statutes not to be analysed in isolation. They need to be assessed in view of the key objectives FIFA seeks to achieve, which objectives in the prevailing circumstances is the independence of its member associations.
[1] Barnejee R (2022), ‘FIFA bans AIFF: of all countries banned by FIFA over third party influence’, GOAL, 16 August.