Guatemala told to reinstate ousted leader

CONCACAF, the regional football organisation have slapped a conditional ban on Guatemala for the unconstitutional removal of president of the Federacion Nacional de Futbol de Guatemala (FEDEFUTBOL) Jose Mauricio Caballeros. And CONCACAF have communicated their decision to FIFA, who will take any further decision they deem fit when they resume work in Zurich after the Christmas/New Year break. But should FEDEFUTBOL re-instate president Caballeros, the ban would be lifted and they will notify FIFA of their decision.

The ban means that Guatemala will rule them out from participating in the World Cup 2006 qualifying series and that of the under-23 Olympic in Athens, Greece, later this year. According to a CONCACAF announcement, their emergency committee met and decided to suspend the FEDEFUTBOL from all activities within CONCACAF. FEDEFUTBOL president Caballeros who was only recently elected, was ousted by a dissenting faction within the federation. The CONCACAF decision prevents all Guatemalan teams from participation in or attending their events. Should the dissenters continue to keep out Caballeros, however, the matter will be further investigated by a Normalisation Committee from both CONCACAF and FIFA.