LIMA, Peru (AP) — FIFA has threatened to suspend the Peruvian soccer federation if the country's congress changes a law affecting the local body's statutes.
The Peruvian federation said on Twitter on Thursday that a letter sent by FIFA's secretary-general Fatma Samoura threatens to suspend Peru if there is any change in the law.
FIFA requires local federations to be independent from state intervention, but Peruvian lawmakers believe that a law strengthening their local soccer federation is unconstitutional.
The law in question does not allow the Peruvian state to oversee the finances of the federation. It also allows its chairman Edwin Oviedo to call a new election in 2019.
Oviedo runs the Peruvian federation since 2014. Under his management, Peru qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 36 years.
