ZURICH (the-afc.com) -- FIFA officially informed the Islamic Republic of Iran Football Federation (IRIFF) on December 19 that the suspension imposed on the federation on November 23, 2006 had been lifted.

Therefore, the IRIFF and its clubs, referees, officials, etc., may participate in all international football competitions and activities with immediate effect.

The FIFA Emergency Committee, composed of the FIFA president and one representative of each of the six confederations, took the decision to lift the ban on December 18 as a result of a series of cooperative negotiations between FIFA, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the IRIFF and the Physical Education Organization (PEO) of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The negotiations resulted in the establishment of a Transitory Board of the IRIFF, jointly recognized by FIFA and the PEO, with the following duties: - The management of Iranian football at national and international levels; - The drafting and ratification of new statutes for the IRIFF based on the FIFA Standard Statutes; - The organization of elections for the future leadership of the IRIFF, based on these new statutes and with the support of FIFA and the AFC

The Transitory Board is to be composed of Mohsen Safaii Farahani as chairman, Kumars Hashemi as deputy chairman, and Mohammad-Hassan Ansarifard, Hassan Ghaffari, Mohammad Khabiri, and Ali Reghbati as members.

It is planned that the whole process of transition will be completed by March 31, 2007.

With this commitment, the IRIFF is now in a position to normalize its structure and statutes in accordance with the FIFA and AFC regulations. This development signifies that the objections raised by FIFA, which gave rise to the suspension of the IRIFF, have been removed.