BANGKOK (4 May 2011) – The FA of Thailand (FAT) will appeal against the decision to eliminate them from the second round of the 2012 Olympic Games qualifiers imposed by the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) Disciplinary Committee.
Thailand were deemed by the AFC to have fielded a suspended player – Sucharit Chanthakul – when they beat Palestine 5-4 on penalties in the first qualifying round.
They are scheduled to take on Bahrain in the second round of the Olympic qualifiers in June.
“We have been formally informed by the AFC about the matter. We are appealing,” said Ong-arj Kosinkar, the secretary general of the FAT.
Sucharit was suspended at the Under-19 Asian Championship in 2008 and where according to the AFC, he had not yet served the ban before the Olympic qualifying match.
Ong-Arj argued that Sucharit was in the Thai squad at last year’s Asian Games but did not play which the FAT construed as having served his suspension.
Also Ong-Arj pointed out that the match commissioner at the Bangkok game should have informed Thailand during the pre-match meeting that Sucharit was ineligible.
