REPRIEVE FOR NOH ALAM SHAH

“We are satisfied from the evidence given and tendered by Noh Alam that those personal problems weighed heavily on his mind and impaired his judgement and frame of mind,” said Michael Kuah.

“It was also not the intention of the Disciplinary Committee to impose a global sanction on Noh Alam and we have taken that into consideration.”

Noh Alam had earlier pleaded guilty before the FAS Disciplinary Committee on 10 December 2007 to two disciplinary charges of violent conduct and aggressive behaviour and was suspended from playing in “all FAS-sanctioned tournaments and matches for a period of one (1) year and fined $2,000”.

He did not appeal the decision then within the prescribed period of seven days as he was of the understanding that the suspension was a local one.

But after securing a contract with Malaysian team PDRM, he was not granted a licence to play by the FA of Malaysia (FAM) following a clarification from FIFA.

The suspension of 1 year, which is now global – which was not the intention of the Disciplinary Committee – will effectively prevent him from earning his livelihood as a professional football player for the period in question.

Noh Alam has also expressed remorse and apologised for his unwarranted violent conduct and aggressive behaviour.

Noh Alam will now serve his suspension up to 9 July 2008.

He will effectively miss at least 16 S-League matches and three Singapore Cup matches for his club as well as the entire third round (six matches) of the Lions’ FIFA World Cup Qualifying campaign during the period of his suspension.