The Bosnian Football Federation (NSBIH) has failed to accept changes to its statute demanded by FIFA and UEFA, prompting a ban from international competition to start on April 1.
During a meeting of the federation’s general assembly in Sarajevo, 28 out of 54 delegates voted against changes to the statute, an NSBIH statement said.
UEFA and FIFA had demanded that NSBIH’s ethnic-based tripartite presidency be replaced by a single president.
“We will wait for more information, but the suspension will be automatic starting from April 1,” a UEFA spokesperson told AFP.
Bosnia are in Group D for Euro 2012 qualifiers, a group currently topped by France. Their next game is against Romania on June 3.
If the NSBIH fail to implement the requested changes, UEFA’s executive committee could remove the national squad from Group D.
The changes sought by UEFA and FIFA were backed by 22 delegates, with three abstaining while one left the room during the vote.
The NSBIH assembly has 60 delegates, 20 from each of Bosnia’s three ethnic communities—Croats, Muslims and Serbs.
The Serb-run entity of Republika Srpska, along with the Muslim-Croat Federation, have governed Bosnia since the 1992-1995 Balkans war.
Earlier this month the Serb entity’s federation unanimously backed maintenance of the joint federation’s tripartite presidency.
UEFA secretary general Gianni Infantino subsequently warned of the threat to suspend Bosnia-Herzegovina if required changes are not made to the NSBIH statute.
The NSBIH rejected the demanded changes in July but FIFA and UEFA have given them until March 31 to change their minds.
