(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) The Oman Football Association (OFA) board led by its chairman Sayyid Khalid al Busaidy resigned en masse on Monday, following an adverse court verdict on their election last year, and brought to an end a deadlock that may have led to the country being suspended by FIFA.
Muscat Daily had first reported that the board was likely to resign with the deadline for the Ministry of Sports Affairs to enforce the verdict of the Administrative Justice Court ending on August 31. On
Monday, the OFA chairman announced the resignation of the board during a press conference held at the association's headquarters in Seeb.
''With no solution to either avoid the Administrative Court's decision, handed down to the Ministry of Sports Affairs, and avoid the risk of FIFA penalties â€" such as bans from international play - due to FIFA's rules regarding independent governance... we decided to submit [the] group resignation,'' Sayyid Khalid said.
Sayyid Khalid, who was in the midst of a second term as OFA chief, said, ''The board emphasises the legitimacy of the elections held last year and its results, which followed all OFA statutes. The board regrets the esteemed court's judgment, which was based on external sports legislation rather than OFA's statutes.''
The court had ruled on June 25 that the association's election in August last year was invalid, following petitions filed by three clubs - Seeb, Oman and Muscat - and a former sports administrator. The petitioners claimed that the election process was flawed, and had questioned the eligibility of some of the elected candidates.
Sheikh Hazzaa al Saadi, the OFA chief executive and general secretary, will now take over as interim head of the association. ''The next elections will be held on September 27,'' Saadi said. ''We will start working on the elections soon.''
Sayyid Khalid, meanwhile, said that he plans to seek re-election as chairman, adding that he would officially announce the move in the coming days.
He also expressed the hope that FIFA would accept the board's explanation on the resignation; a final decision from the world governing body is still awaited. ''We hope the FIFA will accept our justification in the larger interest of the game. I hope this case is over,'' he said.
FIFA had reacted angrily to the court verdict and threatened Oman with suspension since its laws prohibit any 'third parties' from influencing the activities of a member association.
''We took the decision unanimously and without any pressure,'' said Sayyid Khalid. ''We regret the move by the three clubs and a candidate from the last election to approach the court. They overlooked FIFA and OFA statutes and despite our sincere calls to withdraw the cases in the interest of Oman football, they did not do so. On the contrary, the board members decided to resign in the supreme interest of our country and avoid possible exclusion from international football.''
The former chairman said that the delay in the board's resignation following the June verdict was due to the fact that 'we wanted to explore all possibilities to avoid the enforcement of the court verdict and a ban fro
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