Former Football Federation of Sri Lanka President Manilal Fernando was banned from Football for life by FIFA after an appeal by him against an original judgment backfired disastrously.
The Appeal Committee reached the decision following separate appeals lodged by Mr. Fernando and by the chief of investigation, Michael J. Garcia, against the decision rendered by the adjudicatory chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee on 30 April 2013 to ban Mr. Fernando from taking part in any football-related activity for a period of eight years.
Mr. Garcia had appealed against the principle of self -incrimination and the leniency of the eight year ban.
“The appeal lodged by Mr Garcia has been upheld by the Appeal Committee,” read in the Appeal Committee statement.
“The lifetime ban has been imposed on Mr. Fernando for violations of art. 13 (General rules of conduct), art. 19 (Conflicts of interest), art. 20 (Offering and accepting gifts and other benefits), art. 21 (Bribery and corruption), and art. 42 (General obligation to collaborate) of the FIFA Code of Ethics, 2012 edition.”
Fernando, a former member of the FIFA Executive Board and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) executive committee had been a close associate of Mohamed bin Hammam, who was expelled by FIFA for a second time last December.
Bin Hammam was banned for life by FIFA for “conflicts of interest” relating to his management of AFC financials. That came after a bribery scandal during his presidential bid to oust Sepp Blatter, who was re-elected. He was accused of trying to buy votes for the FIFA’s 2011 Presidential vote.
Speaking to ThePapare.com Manilal Fernando revealed that he will appeal against this decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which is an independent international arbitration body set up to settle disputes related to sport.
“I am not surprised but disappointed by this decision. It is harsh and unfair.” Fernando lamented.
“I have sought the advice of my lawyers and I will appeal against this decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sports which is outside the FIFA and I will hope that I will get justice there,” he added.
Mr. Fernando was represented by Mr. Hodge Malek, Queen’s Counsel of UK, Mr. Anil Tittawella, President’s Counsel of Sri Lanka, Mr. Andrew Tabachnik, Barrister of UK, instructed by Mr. Nithi Murugesu, Solicitor of Sri Lanka.
In the wake of this decision the current President of the FFSL Mr.Ranjith Fernando said that this is a huge dent in the image of football in Sri Lanka.
“This has damaged the FFSL’s reputation in Asia and in FIFA. My challenge is to recover from these dark times. We are doing everything to achieve this goal as swiftly as possible. The relationship between FIFA is very important for us.” Mr. Rodrigo added.
