Tehran Times - FIFA, in its latest letter to the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI), has informed the federation about the objections to the draft statues of the FFIRI and ordered that the objections must be resolved in a short time.
The Iranian football federation sent its updated draft statues to FIFA in mid-May. FIFA had previously stopped Iran from holding its elections due to concerns over potential government interference in the FFIRI with the amended rules hoping to satisfy the sport's governing body.
One of the crucial issues about the FFIRI Statutes is whether the Iranian football federation is a "non-governmental public organization" or just a "non-governmental organization" after controversy over exterior interference in the body.
In the first draft statues sent to FIFA, the FFIRI has been considered as a non-governmental public organization.
However, one of the main objections that FIFA has made to the FFIRI amended statutes is that the federation's independence is not included in the draft and it should be explicitly stated in the statutes that no external organization -in this case, the government - has the right to interfere in the football affairs.
The latest letter sent to the Iranian federation by FIFA on May 29 made the situation even more difficult for the Iranian officials.
The letter, in addition to expressing surprise at some of the changes made on the statues that contradict FIFA's rules, emphasizes that the international governing body of football will take further actions if the FFIRI fail to revise its statutes based on the directive previously set by FIFA.
"We deem that a failure to comply with this directive would result in the matter being brought to the attention of the relevant FIFA bodies for further action," the letter reads.