Spain could be suspended from playing in World Cup | OneFootball

Fifa has warned Spain in a letter that they may be excluded from next summer’s World Cup in Russia, according to El País.

The 2010 champions have appeared in 11 consecutive World Cup finals and despite qualifying for the upcoming tournament, they risk not actually being there come June.

The cause of the danger has to do with a longstanding and very strictly observed Fifa policy that prevents government interference in the affairs of national football associations.

In Spain, the Administrative Tribunal of Sport to the Council of State, which is a government office, recommended to the Royal Spanish Football Federation that they hold new presidential elections in light of the recent scandal surrounding the previous president, Ángel María Villar.

Villar was arrested in July in relation with a corruption investigation.

If Fifa judges that the Spanish government somehow influences the federation, Spain will be suspended by Fifa.

Nigeria, Indonesia, Pakistan and Kuwait are among the several countries to have been banned by Fifa in recent years for government or third-party interference.