Fifa has suspended the Benin Football Federation (FBF) from
global football after a court ruling in the country blocked upcoming elections.
A statement from football’s world governing body said: “the
Benin Football Association (FBF) was suspended with immediate effect due to a
recent injunction by a local judicial court which impeded the holding of the
due election.”
The move means Benin are set to miss June’s 2017 Africa Cup
of Nations qualifier against Equatorial Guinea. The decision was made at the
inaugural Fifa Council meeting being held in Mexico.
A court ruling in Benin on 4 May prevented the FBF holding
presidential elections and the suspension will be lifted once a new Executive
Committee has been installed. Benin is currently second in Group C two points
behind group-leaders Mali.
The Squirrels are due to host Equatorial Guinea on the
weekend of 3-5 June and then travel to face Mali in September, with only the
group winners guaranteed a place at the 2017 finals in Gabon.
The Fifa Council meeting also ratified a recent of the
decision of the bureau of the Council to appoint a normalisation committee to
run the daily affairs of the Guinea Football Federation.