By David Gold
August 2 – FIFA has warned the Venezuelan Government against the creation of a new “Sports Justice Commission”, which could cause a dispute with both world football’s governing body and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Venezuela is also proposing that athletes vote directly for officials in national sporting federations, as well as a one per cent tax on companies that post profits in excess of 1.5 million Venezuelan bolívars (£215,000/$350,000) for a sports development fund.
FIFA takes a dim view of Government interference in sport, and has frequently acted to ban countries where such practises occur.
In June Belize were suspended from international football for Government involvement in football affairs, but were subsequently allowed back in.
Similarly, the IOC has resorted to suspending nations whose Governments have interfered in sporting activities, as happened with Ghana earlier this year after the country’s Government failed to adopt measures to guarantee the independence of its Olympic Committee.
In 2010, the IOC also suspended Kuwait, and Venezuela risks following the same path if President Hugo Chavez approves the bill, which passed through the country’s national assembly today.
“The law could be considered a direct interference by the Government in affairs that are exclusive to the FVF [Venezuelan Football Federation],” FIFA warned in a statement.
Hector Rodriguez, the Venezuelan Sports Minister, dismissed the FIFA statement and was bullish about the prospect of sporting sanction.
“There were some big lies saying we would be disaffiliated from international events,” he said.
“Today we can see that all those lies fell under their own weight.”
It is not Venezuela’s first brush with international sporting suspensions, after FIFA threatened to do so in 2005 when a civil court in the country interfered in their Football Association elections.
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