The body governing football in the world, FIFA has suspended Congo and Pakistan with immediate effect, which automatically rules them out of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
FIFA confirmed the decision to suspend both countries after they were found guilty of breaching some of the rules of the game. According to the body, the Congolese Football Association (FECOFOOT) was suspended due to “a particularly serious situation of undue interference by third parties in the country’s football affairs.
What did FIFA say about the suspension of Congo?
The statement read as follows,
“The decision was taken in consultation with CAF after two FIFA/CAF missions were dispatched to Brazzaville,”
On the other hand, the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) has been suspended for failing to adopt a revised constitution that ensures “truly fair and democratic elections”. According to FIFA, the suspension will be lifted if the PFF Congress approves the version of the PFF Constitution presented by FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
The chairman of the PFF Normalisation Committee Haroon Malik explained that FIFA wants to make amendments to the PFF Constitution to bring it in line with international standards.
Congo is currently bottom of Group E in the Africa qualification while Pakistan finished bottom of Group G in the second round of the qualification process in the AFC confederation.
Which country will host the 2026 FIFA World Cup?
The 2026 World Cup will be jointly hosted by the USA, Canada and Mexico and will take place from 11 June to 19 July 2026.
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