FIFA Blocks Mali From International Football

World football body FIFA on Friday in Zurich said all of Mali’s football clubs have been suspended from international competitions, after the country’s government interfered in the national association.

FIFA took action after Mali’s sports minister, Housseini Amion Guindo, decided to replace the executive body of the Malian Football Association FEMAFOOT with a new provisional leadership.

“The suspension will be lifted once ministerial decisions are nullified,’’ it said in a statement.

In the meantime, FEMAFOOT has lost its FIFA membership rights, and the national team and clubs from the West African country are banned from international events.