FIFA has demanded that the Iranian Soccer Federation bar public officials from interfering with the sport, giving the federation two days to respond to the demands laid out by the organization and the Asian Football Federation. The Iranian Football Federation and the Iranian Physical Education Organization left a meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, agreeing to return with a solution within 48 hours.
Members of the PEO, a government organization, have been running sports in Iran since 1979. However, FIFA and the AFC want the IFF run independently. To end the impasse, FIFA and the AFC on Tuesday agreed to let PEO officials become members of the IFF’s general assembly, but not president.
But the proposal comes at a time when one of the prime candidates for IFF President, Mohammed Aliabadi, happens to be an Iranian vice president and head of the PEO, too. Because of his close affiliation with government and politics, FIFA said it would not recognize the results of the presidential election, scheduled for Thursday. Last year, FIFA suspended Iran briefly from international matches because of meddling by the PEO and other government organizations in domestic soccer.