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| Poland's qualifying could be affected by the situation at the FA [GALLO/GETTY] |
Poland face a battle to keep their World Cup qualification hopes alive after being warned they could be banned for their next two qualifying matches.
The Polish government must reinstate the country's football association by October 6 or risk being suspended from World Cup qualifiers, world governing body FIFA has warned.
Breach
A FIFA spokesman confirmed that if Poland was in breach of statutes after the deadline, the World Cup qualifiers against the Czech Republic on October 11 and Slovakia on October 15 may not take place and their opponents could be awarded a 3-0 win.
Poland sit top of Group Three with four points from two matches.
The management board of the Polish FA (PZPN) was suspended on Monday by the country's arbitration tribunal at the request of Warsaw's sports minister Miroslaw Drzewiecki in an anti-corruption drive, and replaced by an administrator.
FIFA and European governing body UEFA - whose rules do not allow government interference in the game - said they do not recognise administrator Robert Zawlock.
Warsaw was also warned it risked losing the right to co-host Euro 2012 alongside
Ukraine.
Back to HQ
"FIFA has today sent a letter...in order to stress the fact that the internationally-recognised authorities of the PZPN must be restored in the headquarters of the federation in order to be able to adequately organise the two 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches," FIFA said in a statement on Wednesday.
Jerzy Engel, deputy head of the PZPN, said his organisation is "convinced we will be able to solve all domestic issues by Monday and the matches will take place.
"We have two days for talks. We should do our best to ensure Poland takes part in the World Cup qualifiers," he said.
FIFA's executive committee is expected to discuss the matter on October 22, while UEFA is to convene a meeting of its emergency panel around the same time.
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