September 3 – Venezuela is the latest country to have its affairs run by FIFA after being plunged into yet more turmoil.
Football’s world governing body has appointed a Normalisation Committee to run the Venezuelan Football Federation (FVF) following the death of Acting President Jesús Berardinelli last month.
The committee will manage the FVF on a day-to-day basis until June 30 of next year at the latest and will organise elections because of the “leadership vacuum” within the federation.
Berardinelli had been in charge since January after Laureano González stepped down citing health problems.
González had himself taken over from predecessor Rafael Esquivel, a former Conmebol vice-president who was one of the original “Zurich Seven” in the FifaGate scandal and who pleaded guilty to seven counts of racketeering, money laundering conspiracies and wire fraud.
Berardinelli died 16 days after being arrested in July on corruption charges, two days after which he was transferred to a clinic due to respiratory failure.
In a statement FIFA said the FVF “is currently facing a situation in which its President and first vice-president are permanently absent”.
“This leadership vacuum prevents the FVF from taking key administrative and sporting decisions during these critical times, which could impact negatively on the development of Venezuelan football at all levels.”
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