Spain could be banned from Euro 2008
FIFA could ban Spain from Euro 2008 and domestic giants such as Barcelona and Real Madrid could be barred from playing in Europe, president Sepp Blatter has warned. The Swiss has vowed to take action if the Spanish government attempts to intervene in the election process of the Spanish Football Association.
Blatter has threatened to expel the national side and Spanish clubs from major tournaments unless the government revokes a ministerial order which forces the country's non-Olympic sporting federations to hold elections before the Beijing Games, which commence on August 8 later this year.
He said: "Spain is going to find itself in a situation which in the future could be very poorly received by the entire world.
"It shocks me that the government has passed a ministerial order which states that the federations that will not be involved in the [Olympic] Games must organize their elections before then.
"Either the Spanish government wants football to be played in Spain only, without international games, or it will accept the international rules and the Spanish national team will be able to take part [in international competition].
"It would be tough, but it would only take six hours to call a FIFA emergency committee meeting to hear and decide upon Spain's exclusion.
"Spain would not be able to play at Euro 2008, and their clubs wouldn't continue in the Champions League or UEFA Cup."
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