The Elections Commission of Maldives (EC) can hold elections for national sports associations in the country, says MP for Mahibadhoo constituency and renowned football player Ahmed Thoriq.

The MP, who also served as President of the Football Association of Maldives (FAM), stated that this must be included in the sports act, after ensuring that the regulations of sports associations are amended similarly.

He made this assertion during the debate stage of the bill proposed by MP for west-Henveiru constituency Hassan Latheef who also served as a Minister of Sports, to amend the sports act.

MP Thoriq stressed that there have always been concerns regarding the elections of sports associations and the several problems faced within.

As such, noting that sports organizations and associations have released statements regarding consequences that may surface due to the amendments to the act, MP Thoriq highlighted that there have been instances where FIFA has suspended countries due to internal matters and that despite suspending countries, FIFA will not gain anything from it.

The parliamentarian stressed that FIFA has suspended 29 countries from 2003 up until now, some of them include repeatedly suspended countries.

Further noting that FIFA has not acted accordingly in some instances, the parliamentarian stated that he does not believe the measures taken by FIFA during former FAM President Ilham Ahmed’s tenure were right. FIFA had not even given FAM a chance to provide answers, stressed Thoriq, who stated that there was influence within FIFA.

Responding to claims that FIFA would suspend Maldives, Thoriq noted that the association would not want to keep a country in suspension and would work to resolve such matters.

The MP went on to state that FIFA will make decisions regarding football, despite not having its own territory or football grounds.

In addition, Thoriq noted that EC can takeover the responsibility of handling sportsassociation elections. However, he added that this must be done after amending the regulations of associations.

The preliminary debate into the amendments proposed by MP Latheef, comprising of mainly five components, have since begun and a majority of lawmakers have backed the proposed amendments.