Luis Suarez
Several Uruguay players used their social media channels to share a letter in support of FIFA’s decision to take temporary control of the country’s soccer federation because of governance concerns.
The letter, tweeted out by team stars such as Luis Suarez and Diego Godin, says it would bring “transparency, democracy and plurality” to the federation, known as the AUF.
FIFA officials said it decided Tuesday to appoint a “normalization committee” that will run the AUF until Feb. 28, 2019. The country is campaigning with Argentina and Paraguay to host the 2030 World Cup.
The intervention follows the AUF’s president, Wilmar Valdez, quitting a day before he was to stand for re-election last month. The vote was put on hold.
CONMEBOL, the main South American soccer body, says there is “a lack of assurances” in AUF’s electoral process. FIFA says the electoral process “is not in accordance with the requirements of transparency as outlined in the FIFA and CONMEBOL statutes.”
FIFA and CONMEBOL stressed the “normalization committee” will run the daily business of the association, adapt AUF’s statutes to international standards and organize its elections.
Marcelo de Leon, president of Uruguay’s referee association, told radio Sport that the intervention was requested by his colleagues, professional footballers and players of the national team. They asked for a corruption probe to examine decisions made by the AUF over the last 20 years.
In contrast, Uruguay’s government said FIFA has no right to intervene in the association.
“There cannot be an international body intervening in a national body,” Education and Culture Minister Maria Julia Munoz said at a news conference. She said it is her ministry’s role to oversee whether private entities like AUF act in accordance with their own statutes or not.