In a dramatic reversal of fortunes, Qatar’s El Jaish will take a 3-0 advantage into their Asian Champions League quarter-final second leg against Al Nasr tomorrow after the Asian Football Confederation’s disciplinary committee declared the first leg match in Doha last month forfeited.
Al Nasr had thrashed El Jaish 3-0 in Doha leaving Sabri Lamouchi’s side with a huge mountain to climb in their second leg clash in Dubai tomorrow, but the AFC committee reversed the result yesterday because the UAE side’s star player Santos Monteiro Junior Wanderley was found to have been playing under a false Indonesian passport.
“The Asian Football Confederation disciplinary committee has ordered the AFC champions League quarter-final first-leg match El Jaish vs Al Nasr... forfeited,” an AFC statement said yesterday. “The committee held, on the basis of information received from various authorities and after analysing the case file that the Indonesian passport submitted to register Wanderley was false,” the statement added.
Article 24.6.3 of the competition regulations provides that a player is deemed ineligible if the AFC determines that any document submitted during registration is false.
Wanderley was provisionally suspended by the Chairman of the AFC Disciplinary Committee on September 2, 2016, for a purported violation of Article 62 (forgery and falsification) of the AFC Disciplinary Code.
The investigation into the parties responsible for the forgery or falsification of the passport is continuing. Further information shall be provided in due course. Al Nasr (UAE) were also ordered to pay a fine of $1,000.
Wanderley, 27, joined Al Nasr in July and scored the opener in last month’s win over El Jaish, but he was suspended after doubts emerged over his nationality. Teams are allowed to field three foreigners in the champions League, plus one more if the player has Asian nationality.
The controversy puts Qatar’s El Jaish in the box seat in tomorrow’s return leg, with a semi-final awaiting against either UAE’s Al Ain or Uzbek side Lokomotiv.
Meanwhile, Sven-Goran Eriksson’s Shanghai SIPG and Felix Magath’s Shandong Luneng face a fight to reach the AFC champions League semi-finals this week.
SIPG head to 2006 champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors after a 0-0 draw in the first leg of their quarter-final, while Shandong are up against it as they trail FC Seoul 3-1 on aggregate.
In the East Asian quarter-finals, SIPG and Shandong will bid to keep the title in Chinese hands after holders Guangzhou Evergrande were knocked out at the group stage.
Eriksson’s SIPG face a test in Jeonju on Tuesday but they were buoyed by the return from injury of their record Brazilian signing Hulk, who netted two in Friday’s 2-2 domestic draw with Beijing Guoan.
Shandong, 3-1 down against free-scoring FC Seoul, have also been plunged into controversy after midfielder Jin Jingdao was suspended for failing a drugs test.
Jin, 24, tested positive for the banned substance clenbuterol before the first leg and is suspended for a provisional period of 60 days, the AFC said.
Al Nasr’s Wanderley was found to be playing under a false Indonesian passport.
