Fiji Football against election of leader with criminal conviction
The Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland
Photo:
AFP
The Fiji Football Association (FA) says it does not condone anyone with criminal convictions being part of their leadership set-up.
Chief executive officer Mohammed Yusuf said in a media statement on Saturday that the controversial election of Aiyaz Mohammed Musa Umarji as vice-president west, during the Fiji FA Congress on 30 May in Suva, was not according to their laws.
He said article 46(6) of the Fiji FA statutes prohibits individuals previously found guilty of a criminal offence from holding executive office.
But according to the Football Association statement, Umarji is challenging this in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
He was sentenced in August 2023 to four years in prison but his jail time was reduced by six months after an appeal. He was released last October and deported home.
He argues his guilty plea, conviction and three-year and six-month imprisonment in New Zealand - on three counts of importing Class B controlled drugs - cannot have an impact on his eligibility because the offence is not football related.
The Fiji FA is opposing this "because there is no such a limitation in the FijiFA prohibition".
Umarji was initially disqualified from candidacy by Fiji FA's governance committee under article 46(6), but the Court of Arbitration for Sport issued a provisional order permitting him to contest the election.
The CAS president said the decision to grant the requested relief "does not amount to a legitimisation or trivialisation of the importance of maintaining the highest ethical and integrity standards".
"The present decision should not be seen as an act of leniency towards any potentially criminal conduct that may be incompatible with [those] standards."
The Fiji FA has decided that the new vice president will not be declared elected, has not assumed office and his eligibility remains under review by CAS.
But it also acknowledges that a majority of members at the Congress voted for Umarji for the vice-president west position.
"We respectfully urge the public and the media to await the final decision of the CAS Panel, which will comprehensively resolve the matter of eligibility."
Aiyaz Umarji directed a request for comment to his lawyer, who has not responded to
RNZ Pacific'
s questions.
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