JOHANNESBURG (AP) — FIFA will allow Gambia to elect new soccer leaders in a deal that means the country can still play in African Cup and World Cup qualifiers later this year.
FIFA says elections for a new Gambia Football Association board must be held by Sept. 30. Alieu Jammeh, the minister of sport, dissolved the former FA board following a home defeat to Algeria in an African Cup qualifier this month.
That prompted soccer’s world governing body to warn of “severe sanctions” against Gambia for government interference. But a compromise has been reached after FIFA president Sepp Blatter and secretary general Jerome Valcke met with Jammeh.
FIFA says Blatter has nominated a seven-member GFA “normalization committee” to organize the elections.
