The Swiss Football League (SFL) announced on Friday that they have opened disciplinary proceedings against six FC Sion players as the fallout from the team's Europa League exclusion took another twist.
The six players -- Stefan Glarner, Billy Ketkeophomphone, Mario Mutsch, Pascal Feindouno, Jose Julio Gomes Goncalves and Gabriel Garcia -- are accused of breaking the rules of both the Swiss football association (ASF) and the SFL when they took the case regarding their eligibility to a civil court in Martigny last month.
The statutes of the ASF and the SFL, as well as those of FIFA and UEFA, prohibit players from taking any football-related case to the civil courts, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) being the furthest any such matter can go.
The move taken by the SFL is the latest episode in the drawn-out affair regarding the players' eligibility, and came after Sion withdrew an appeal to the CAS.
The SFL confirmed earlier this month that the six players, who all joined the Super League club in the summer, are free to play in domestic competition, reversing their initial ruling made in July.
However, Sion were excluded from the Europa League after UEFA found they fielded the players in a qualifying match with Scottish side Celtic when they were ineligible.
Celtic were promoted to the competition in their place.
Source: AFP
