FIFA has suspended the Trinidad & Tobago FA, which is pretty close to the death penalty in international football/soccer.

It's depressing, if predictable, outcome to a long running dispute in which FIFA refuses to recognize the authority of national governments and local law.

FIFA considers itself sovereign, above all nations. That's particularly the case for smaller, poorer countries.

The attitude is sharply different when it comes to the US Dept of Justice, which FIFA not only recognizes, but also bends over backwards to accommodate.

The same could be said for Switzerland, where FIFA is located. Trinidad is another story.

When the TTFA turned to the courts to question FIFA's installation of a normalization committee against its wishes, FIFA refused to recognize the FA's right to do so.

Imagine being a member of an intl nonprofit & being told you're not allowed to turn to the government of the country you live in or else you're exiled. FIFA is the final and only word.

It's part and parcel with the Costa Nostra approach to governance FIFA holds so dear.

This reminds me of when FIFA banned Lisle Austin in 2011 for suing it in the Bahamas (where Concacaf was domiciled) over who should be the confederation's president. https://www.stabroeknews.com/2011/08/11/sports/austin-banned-by-fifa-over-lawsuit/

In the wake of Jack Warner's resignation after the MBH scandal, Austin believed that bylaws indicated he should be acting president of the confederation and fired Chuck Blazer. But the executive committee instead ousted Austin and put in Hawit.

Warner, Blazer, and Hawit were all ultimately indicted in the FIFA corruption scandal, as was Jeffrey Webb, whose rise to power swung on the outcome of the governance dispute.

Lisle Austin, maligned and outcast, was never charged, meanwhile.

FIFA wanted its guys in power.