FIFA Imposes Ban on Panama Football Federation President Following Controversy

Days after Panama secured its spot in the 2026 World Cup, FIFA announced a six-month ban on the country’s football federation president, Manuel Arias, for failing to adhere to a prior suspension related to inappropriate remarks about a women’s national team player.

FIFA’s statement indicated that Arias is “banned from all football-related activity for six months,” a suspension that will conclude approximately four weeks prior to the commencement of the World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

As a result of this ban, Arias is prohibited from attending the World Cup draw scheduled for December 5 in Washington, D.C. Additionally, FIFA’s disciplinary judges have imposed a fine of 20,000 Swiss francs (around $25,000) on Arias for not complying with the ethics committee’s earlier ruling, which had already suspended him for six months until July. No specific details of the violations leading to this latest ban were disclosed.

The controversy stems from remarks made by Arias in response to critical comments from Marta Cox, a player on the women’s national team, regarding the team’s setup that led to their qualification for the 2023 Women’s World Cup. Arias described Cox as “fat,” a statement he later acknowledged as “unfortunate” in March 2024.

During his initial six-month suspension, Arias was expected to miss two World Cup qualifying matches in June and the Gold Cup held in the United States in July.

Arias retains the option to appeal the recent sanctions imposed by FIFA.

Panama secured its World Cup berth by defeating El Salvador 3-0 on Tuesday, while previous group leader Suriname suffered a 3-1 defeat in Guatemala.