BANGKOK (23 May 2011) – Datuk Worawi Makudi, the president of the FA of Thailand (FAT) is confident that the decision against the Thai Olympic squad will be overturned.
He said this week that he has he has lodged an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Lausanne to allow Thailand to continue their campaign in the 2012 Olympic Games qualifying round.
“We should know a CAS ruling in 10 days. In my opinion, there is a high chance of Thailand returning to the Olympic qualifying,” he said.
FIFA had earlier banned Thailand from their continued participation in the 2012 Olympic qualifiers after the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) claimed that Thailand had used a suspended player in a previous match.
Thailand defeated Palestine on penalties after a 2-2 draw over two legs. In the first leg in Bangkok, Thailand fielded Sujarit Jantakol, whom the AFC said had been suspended during an Under-20 match in 2008.
Thailand argued that Sujarit had served his suspension because he was in the Thai squad for the 2010 Asian Games even though he did not play.
The AFC then claimed the football tournament at the Asian Games was not sanctioned by the AFC.
Worawi said yesterday he had talked to AFC president Mohamed Bin Hammam who admitted the football event at the Asiad was supervised by the AFC.
