Fifa set to suspend Niger

Fifa deputy general secretary Jerome Champagne

Niger face suspension from international football as a result of government interference in the affairs of the country's football federation.

Should Fifa's executive committee approve the sanction on 6 October, Niger will become the second African nation to be suspended by football's world governing body this year.

Kenya was given a three-month suspension in June for similar reasons.

Fifa's committee for national associations, which deliberated on the Nigerien case on 22 September, recommended the suspension to the executive committee.

"We have tried everything possible [to avoid suspending Niger]," Fifa deputy general secretary Jerome Champagne told BBC Sport.

We were ready to go the extra mile to accommodate everybody's worries and concerns Jerome Champagne

"We have sent two delegations [to Niger] to discover the situation and we defined a roadmap which would take into consideration all aspects of Nigerien football."

"We were ready to go the extra mile to accommodate everybody's worries and concerns.

"So far Fifa has received no positive answer for its roadmap, so the associations committee had no other choice but to propose the suspension of the federation."

Fifa's executive committee meets in Zurich on 6 October to discuss the matter.

Another African nation in trouble with the world governing body is Ethiopia.

The East African government is said to have been involved in a plan to depose Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF) president Dr Ashebir Woldegiorgis from his post.

A Normalisation Committee appointed to resolve the country's football problems has been unable to carry out their duties but Fifa has set a deadline of 4 October for them to commence work or face suspension.