Buzz up! 0 PrintLA PAZ, Sept 15th (Reuters) - Bolivia’s players have resigned from the national team indefinitely and are demanding reforms in the game from their federation (FBF) and the government, their union (Fabol) said on Tuesday.
The move could leave Bolivia without a squad to face Brazil at home and Peru away in their remaining World Cup qualifiers next month. Both are dead rubbers, however, since Brazil have qualified and Bolivia and Peru have been eliminated.
“Bolivian football is in a deep crisis and as long as our suggestions are not taken into account and implemented…the country’s professional footballers resign indefinitely from representing the national team,” Fabol said in a statement.
Bolivian President Evo Morales proposed last week that the state take charge of the game because of the national team’s poor results.
The Bolivia team are second-bottom of the 10-team South American group with 10 points from 16 games.
The union wants the game to be governed by a single executive body with an equal say for “the real actors in football, the players, coaches and referees” and more money injected into the game by the government.
Bolivian football is run by three separate entities, the FBF, the League and the national associations.
The country’s clubs were eliminated before the knockout phase of this year’s South American Libertadores Cup, mostly after heavy defeats. (Reporting by Diego Ore, writing by Rex Gowar in Buenos Aires, Editing by Ed Osmond, to query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
For those of you who have forgotten, let me also remind all of you of this incident that took place in the 2006 World Cup.
Togo's long-running pay dispute appears to be over after FIFA guaranteed that the team's players would be given their money.
The Sparrowhawks are already out of the competition after losing 2-1 to South Korea and 2-0 to Switzerland but have a third game to play, against France, on Friday.
The players threatened to boycott Monday's game against Switzerland before eventually agreeing to play while coach Otto Pfister resigned before the South Korea match because of the ongoing row only to change his mind and return to his post.
FIFA's director of communications Markus Siegler confirmed: "The money is being paid by the Togolese FA out of their account.
"It is not additional money, it is money that belongs to the Togo FA. It is being drawn from their account and paid to the players. And that is, finally, the end of the matter."
Vival la revoluccion................
