FIFPRO and the Professional Footballers Association of Ghana welcome the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to annul a decision banning the Ghanaian player, Ofosu Appiah, from organized football for one year.
The one year ban imposed by the Latvian Football Federation follows a worrying trend in football where players are sanctioned without proper evidence for alleged involvement in match-fixing; the evidence presented is mainly based on reports of sports data companies and a subjective analysis of the match.
Sanctions imposed by the Football Association of Ireland and Football Federation of Armenia were previously annulled by CAS.
FIFPRO legal director Roy Vermeer said Appiah and other players who receive bans based on weak evidence should receive financial compensation for the disruption to their careers.
“National football associations should not be able to get away with improper disciplinary proceedings and then fail to compensate the players for the harm that is being done to their careers” Vermeer said.
Ofosu Appiah was playing for the now defunct club FC Noah Jurmala when he was sanctioned. He said: “I am very happy that I can finally play again. What the Latvian Football Federation did to me was unfair and affected my family and I in a very serious way.
“I was not able to work and earned no money for months. I am hoping that the Latvian Football Federation will negotiate a settlement with me so I don’t have to start a new court case for the damage that they have done to my career.”
