Venezuela courts controversy with sports law

Venezuela is on collision course with world soccer governing body FIFA and the International Olympic Commission after its parliament approved a controversial sports law that threatens the autonomy of its sports federations. The bill passed by the national assembly on Tuesday would allow the country's athletes to vote for officials in their federations, while setting up a "sports justice commission" that could undermine the Venezuelan Football Federation (FVF).
The law, which still needs President Hugo Chavez's approval, would also establish a sports development fund that would slap a one-percent tax on companies that post annual profits exceeding 1.5 million Venezuelan Bolivars ($350,000). "The law could become a new and heavy burden on Venezuelan firms by establishing an obligatory contribution," the country's biggest industrial union Conindustria said in a statement.
The legislation has rankled Venezuelan firms which are already subject to paying compulsory taxes to a number of local bodies, including a national anti-drugs association. Chavez's government has invested huge sums in sport and many leading sportspeople like Formula One driver Pastor Maldonado enjoy support from state firms. "The law could be considered a direct interference by the government in affairs that are exclusive to the FVF," FIFA warned in a statement last week.
Venezuela's sports minister Hector Rodriguez has further fanned the flames, dismissing the statement as "lies". "There were some big lies saying we would be disaffiliated from international events. Today we can see that all those lies fell under their own weight," he said. Venezuela has previously been threatened with suspension by FIFA when a civil court interfered in elections for the FVF chairman in 2005. The world governing body suspended Belize from international soccer in June over government interference in the national federation but lifted the ban provisionally less than a month later to allow the team to play a World Cup qualifier.