Players serving ban eligible for registration - Faz
by Mutheliso Phiri 25 February 2013, 19:26
Zambian players who were implicated and convicted in the Finnish courts for various match fixing scandals in Finland will be able to be registered to play for local clubs that have expressed interest in their services once they have completely served the worldwide sanction
by April 2013.
The development was revealed to fazfootball.com by Football
Association of Zambia (FAZ) Communications Manager Erick Mwanza on
Monday.
"Players who were implicated and convicted in the Finnish courts for
various match fixing scandals in Finland will be registered to play
for local clubs but that their return to football will be preceded by
complete serving of the worldwide sanction,” said Mwanza.
“The process of re-registration will be concluded at the end of their
bans and at the same time, the recalling of their International
Transfer Certificates (ITC’s) from Finland through the FIFA Transfer
Matching System (TMS). No ITC of the eight players involved in match
fixing has been recalled from Finland," he said.
"We believe that having been involved in such illicit and abhorrent
acts and serving their respective football bans, the players have
learned their lessons and will now be looking forward to bettering
their lives."
"However, we cannot ‘punish or vilify them forever’ because football
is their livelihood; more so that they are Zambians and the Zambian
league is their only home where they can have an opportunity to
restart their careers again."
"While we will re-register the players under review, FAZ will however
monitor them closely and play a fatherly role in their continued
rehabilitation."
"We are not yet in receipt of the players and their new respective
clubs’ requests for registration for 2013. Once their ITCs are
returned by the Finland FA, the process of local registration shall be
commenced."
"FAZ will wait for the ITC’s recall and not exercise its discretion
for interim registration because of the nature of the case."
Mwanza added that FAZ did not condone or tolerate any acts of
match-fixing and would continue to monitor the behaviour players as
well as match and club officials in order to ensure that the game of
football in Zambia was played fairly at all levels.
