Al Nasr have been fined $US50,000 (Dh183,600) and been given a suspended one-year ban from competing in the Asian Champions League following an investigation by the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) Disciplinary Committee.
The Dubai club had their 3-0 victory in the first leg of their quarter-final against El Jaish in August overturned after the continental governing body had ruled that their Brazilian-born striker Wanderley, who had been registered by the club as an Asian player, was playing under a false Indonesian passport.
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The AFC at the time had ruled the game, in which Wanderley scored twice, should be forfeited and El Jaish given a 3-0 win instead. The Qatari side went on to win the tie 4-0 on aggregate before being knocked out by Al Ain in the semi-finals.
The AFC’s disciplinary committee continued to investigate the affair, despite Nasr now being out of the competition, and a statement on Friday on their website revealed the further punishments as well as the fine and the suspended ban from next year’s competition, which will be invoked if there are any further infringements over the next two years.
Nasr are currently eighth in the Arabian Gulf League table after six games and face a tough task to qualify for next season’s Champions League at present. Their early season struggles resulted in the sacking of manager Ivan Jovanovic, whi has since been replaced by Romanian Dan Petrescu.
Nasr were also ordered to return all prize money from their run to the last eight this season, which amounted to $340,000.
Wanderley was given a $10,000 fine and a three-month suspension, which was backdated to begin on September 2, meaning that it ends at the start of next month.
However, it is unlikely he will be back on the field too quickly as he was removed from the club’s four-player foreign list when Iraqi striker Mohannad Abdulraheem was signed last month.
“Al Nasr bore the majority of the fault for the violation, having deliberately obtained an Indonesian passport for the purpose of circumventing the ‘3+1’ rule, and... its employees were not truthful in their collaboration with the AFC,” a statement said.
“Wanderley was at fault for agreeing to be registered as Indonesian but not being an Indonesian national.”
When the winter transfer window opens at the end of the month, Nasr will have the option to slot Wanderley back into the squad at the expense of a non-Emirati, with speculation claiming French forward Jires Kembo Ekoko is likely to be the player replaced.
Nasr acknowledged on Twitter on Thursday that Wanderley would be available from December and they had been fined by the AFC, but no further comment was made by the club following the AFC’s statement.
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