Peru brushes off FIFA threats

Lima:

Peru has called a FIFA threat to suspend the country from playing international matches amid a local leadership row "unacceptable."

An ongoing dispute has intensified as government officials threatened to remove the president of the Peruvian Football Federation.

Manuel Burga was re-elected as federation president earlier this month - a vote recognized by FIFA. But government officials are calling for him to resign for violating the federation's own statutes.

On Monday, FIFA said it would suspend Peru from international matches if the government intervenes in the dispute, but the government brushed off the threat.

"It seems unacceptable," President Alan Garcia's cabinet chief Jorge del Castillo told journalists. "There is no institution that can threaten a government with a position like this one."

Burga, says he is undeterred by government calls for a new federation president and accuses the local news media of conspiring against him.