22 May 2013

AFC punish Brunei


Tuesday, May 21, 2013
THE Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has fined Brunei US$5,000 for their last-minute withdrawal from the AFC Challenge Cup Group E qualifiers in Manila in March.

AFC's Disciplinary Committee met last Tuesday, and the committee imposed fines and suspensions on following recent violations of regulations - with the fine one of 37 decisions the committee reached.

"(The) National Football Association of Brunei Darussalam (NFABD) ordered to pay a fine of US$5,000/- for the violation of Article 20 par. c) of the AFC Challenge Cup 2014 Regulations," stated AFC in a list of violations in regulations posted on their website.

"(The) National Football Association of Brunei Darussalam is reminded to better plan and manage its participation in future AFC competitions," it added.

When The Brunei Times sought the reaction of NFABD, the organisation remained silent and chose not to comment.

The AFC Challenge Cup Maldives 2014 regulations' Section 3:20 (c) states that the participating member association is required to pay compensation for any and all damages or losses suffered by the other participating member associations, the AFC and AFC's commercial and TV partner(s) in case of their withdrawal.

The fine came as no surprise as the regional football governing body told The Brunei Times in March that they would take action on the country's withdrawal from the tournament.

"We will definitely take action and we are currently looking into it," said an AFC spokesperson.

Brunei can consider themselves lucky that they were only handed a fine and not be forced to sit the next edition of the competition out as it was also stated in Section 3:20 (c) that "a participating member association (that) withdraws after entering or does not report for a match at any stage of the competition will be disqualified from taking part in the next edition of the competition."

The Sultanate pulled out of the March 22-26 tournament on March 19 and only informed AFC the next day.

In the previous report in The Brunei Times on March 20, the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports confirmed that the Sultanate would not be at the four-team tournament at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

"Due to unavoidable circumstances, Brunei Darussalam is unable to participate in the upcoming AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers scheduled to be held in the Philippines from March 22-26," said the ministry's permanent secretary Dato Paduka Hj Mohd Hamid Hj Mohd Jaafar on March 19.

Brunei were set to face hosts Philippines, Turkmenistan and Cambodia in Manila, but Brunei's last-minute withdrawal saw AFC award 3-0 wins to all of the country's three opponents.

The Brunei Times

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