CMC – THE Surinamese Football Association (SVB) could face a possible suspension from FIFA if the law courts interfere in its elections, which are due to be held on Friday. In an official letter to the SVB, FIFA emphatically warned that any interference by the courts in the election process or in decisions by the SVB could result in an immediate suspension of the association. The world governing body for football issued the warning following a decision by three football clubs – Real Moengotapu, Sophia’s Lust and Highway Star, to file a lawsuit with the National Court of Suriname after one candidate list for the elections was excluded by the SVB election committee. According to FIFA, this procedure before the regular court constitutes a direct violation of both the FIFA and SVB statutes. In the letter, dated April 30, FIFA stated that the principle of independent sports governance is clearly laid down in Article 51 of its statutes, where it is prohibited to submit disputes to ordinary courts, including for interim measures. FIFA explained that conflicts within the football governing body must first be dealt with entirely through the internal procedures of the SVB and may only be submitted to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) as a last resort – unless national law explicitly provides otherwise. FIFA further maintained that any form of ‘improper third-party influence’ – including judicial interference – constitutes a violation of Article 14 paragraph 1 (i) and Article 19 paragraph 1 of the FIFA statutes. “Such a violation may result in the suspension of the SVB, regardless of whether the violation is directly attributable to the SVB,” FIFA pointed out. If suspended, the SVB would be banned from all international tournaments and programmes, including the upcoming Gold Cup matches and the FIFA World Cup qualifiers in June. Following the warning, SVB vice-president Dayasankar Mathoera called for the May 2 elections to take place according to statutory rules and without external interference.