Fifteen South Africa-based players and one each in Europe, Mozambique and Swaziland are yet to present their submissions before the committee chaired by Retired Supreme Court Judge, Justice Ahmed Ebrahim.
The players are now facing heavy sanctions as the committee has the right to make a decision based on the evidence they have against them.As stated in Article 110 of the Fifa Disciplinary Code, “The parties are obliged to collaborate to establish the facts.
“In particular, they shall comply with requests for information from the judicial bodies . . . If the parties fail to collaborate, especially if they ignore the stipulated time limits, the judicial bodies will reach a decision on the case using the file in their possession.”
Already, 33 players have been cleared of any wrongdoing after giving their side of the story, while another batch is expected to be exonerated soon.FUZ secretary general, Paul Gundani, urged the non-compliant players to make life easier for themselves by co-operating.
“It is improper for the players not to come and testify. The best thing to do is to comply as early as possible. By ignoring the Ethics Committee’s request, they are worsening their situation,” said Gundani.
Justice Ebrahim has already pointed out that the major obstacle in their work is non-compliance from some players, who have not heeded calls to come forward and testify.
The Ethics Committee has however indicated that the players would be given the last chance to give evidence during off-season when they are back home.
