Peru's national team has not made it to a World Cup since '82 and it has been years since "Peru's clubs have been serious contenders in the Copa Libertadores, South America's Champions League," according to Tim Vickery of ESPN. Even the "biggest clubs are deep in financial trouble." Clearly, this "should be a moment for reflection." Instead, Peruvian football "wallows ever deeper in farce -- as the events at the end of last week make abundantly clear." The election to "choose the new president of the FPF, the local football association, should have taken place Thursday -- but ended up being postponed for 30 days." The position is currently held by Manuel Burga, who has "headed the organisation for three four-year terms." He was "up for re-election again -- but the statutes of the FPF limit the president to one re-election." On this basis, the FPF's "electoral committee of lawyers ruled him ineligible." Burga's counter-argument is that this is a "relatively recent clause that did not come into force until he was in his third term, and thus cannot be applied retrospectively." It is "open to question exactly how democratic this apparent football democracy is." What would not seem "open to question is the support that Burga has cultivated in the regional federations." On Thursday, the assembly voted to "dismiss the electoral committee that had ruled Burga ineligible and postponed the election for a month." There is "mounting pressure on the government to intervene in the FPF, which could leave Peruvian football open to a suspension from FIFA" (ESPN, 11/3).
