English Story

波黑国家队被国际足联禁赛

Bosnia-Hercegovina have been suspended from world football after refusing to comply with governing body Fifa's regulations.

波斯尼亚-黑塞哥维那因为拒绝服从国际足联的法规而被其禁赛。

Bosnia beat Romania 2-1 in their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign last week
Bosnia beat Romania 2-1 in their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign last week
The Bosnian Football Federation (NSBIH) had been ordered to change its three-man presidency into one single position by both Fifa and European body Uefa.

But the move was rejected at a NSBIH meeting on Wednesday, prompting Fifa to take immediate action.

The suspension means Bosnia cannot play any international matches.

They are currently fourth in Group D of the 2012 European Championships qualifying campaign, five points behind leaders France and a point behind Belarus and Albania but with a game in hand over their rivals.

But Bosnia's next match away to Romania on 3 June looks unlikely to go ahead unless Fifa and Uefa lift the suspension, which also prevents Bosnian teams or officials from participating internationally.

"Fifa and Uefa deeply regret that this decision had to be taken," the governing bodies said in a joint statement on Friday.

The FFBIH is run along similar lines to Bosnia's complex political system, with a rotating(旋转的) presidency shared between a Muslim, a Serbian and a Croatian.

Although Fifa tolerated the system because of the deep ethnic divisions following the war with neighbours Croatia and Serbia in the 1990s, the world governing body demanded the FFBIH fall into line with the rest if the world in October last year.

The federation was given a 31 March deadline to comply, but the move was rejected at a meeting in Sarajevo on Tuesday by the Bosnian Serbs, who opposed the single-president plan because of fears it would jeopardise their autonomy(自治) after 28 of the 53 NFSBiH representatives voted against the motion.

"Consequently, the NFSBiH loses all its membership rights with immediate effect and until further notice," said the Fifa and Uefa statement.

"The NFSBIH representative and club teams are no longer entitled to take part in international competitions as of 1 April 2011 and until the aforementioned(上述的) problem is solved.

"This also means that, as of 1 April 2011, no NFSBiH official or representative may participate in any international match or event."