NOV 6 — The FIFA Appeal Committee has upheld the sanctions imposed by its Disciplinary Committee against the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and seven heritage players for breaches related to forgery and falsification under Article 22 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (FDC).
In a statement published on FIFA’s official website, the Appeal Committee confirmed that it had dismissed the appeals lodged by FAM and the heritage players — Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal and Hector Hevel.
The Disciplinary Committee and the Appeal Committee are two of three judicial bodies properly established and constituted under Article 52 of the FIFA Statutes.
These judicial bodies are to be composed in such a way that the members have the knowledge, abilities and specialist experience that is necessary for the due completion of their tasks.
The chairperson, deputy chairperson and members of these committees need to fulfil the independence criteria as defined by the FIFA Governance Regulations.
They are elected by the FIFA Congress for terms lasting four years, and for a maximum of three terms.
The judicial bodies are like the courts in a country being one of the three branches of the government, independent of the other branches – that is, the executive and the legislature.
One has to respect the decisions of the judicial bodies in the manner that one respects the decisions of the courts – the judicial bodies of a country.
More so when FIFA has publicly stated that it is committed to safeguarding and promoting the integrity of football worldwide, whilst also ensuring that the football stakeholders are supported by leading experts in disciplinary matters.
The commitment is evidenced in Article 36 FDC which allows the Secretariat to the Disciplinary Committee to appoint integrity experts to support the necessary investigations into potential breaches of FIFA regulations.
The integrity experts are empowered to, among others, engage third parties and gather evidence by collecting written information, requesting documents and obtaining witness statements.
Importantly, the integrity experts must remain impartial and fulfil the independence criteria as defined in the FIFA Governance Regulations.
So, let’s respect the decisions of the judicial bodies. There is a right of appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS).
Let’s respect the process too. That’s respecting the rule of law.
The word “Respect” can be seen on players’ jerseys or, more commonly, sleeve patches and armbands. It is part of a social responsibility campaign launched by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) in 2008.
The main objectives of the UEFA Respect campaign are to promote unity, fairness, and positive behaviour in football.
*This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
