Friday, February 18, 2011
Cough Up, Son
ZURICH (AP) - FIFA has suspended Israel coach Luis Fernandez with immediate effect over a debt he owes to a club in Qatar.
FIFA says it told the Israeli federation of the ban Thursday because Fernandez has not obeyed a November 2009 ruling by the governing body's disciplinary committee.
The 51-year-old Frenchman has a long-standing financial dispute with Qatari club Al Rayyan which he coached in 2005.
Fernandez, who took the Israel job last March, says on the federation website that he expects the problem will be solved before 2012 European Championship qualifying matches against Latvia and Georgia next month.
Federation president Avi Luzon, who is a UEFA executive committee member, says he'll meet with Fernandez next week.
UPDATE - so Qatar get some belated satisfaction through FIFA yet how many players have cases pending over disputes with Indonesian teams and nothing gets done?
