Seven Lebanon beach soccer players and officials handed bans

Listed below are the bans handed to the four (4) players and three (3) officials:

• Ahmed Grada (player) has been banned from taking part in any kind of football-related activity for three (3) years.
• Mahmoud Michlib Matar (player) and Youssef Zeineddine (physiotherapist) have been banned from taking part in any kind of football-related activity for two (2) years.
• Hussein Salame (player) and Khaled Berjaui (team manager) have been banned from taking part in any kind of football-related activity for one (1) year.
• Mohamed Choker (player) has been banned from taking part in any kind of football-related activity for six (6) months.
• Alex Domingos Braga (head coach) has been banned from taking part in any kind of football-related activity for one (1) month.

All bans are backdated to commence from March 10, 2017, which was the date the individuals were first provisionally suspended. The ban on football-related activity covers – amongst others – attendance and participation at all types of matches, including domestic, international, friendly and official fixtures.

The AFC Disciplinary Committee also ordered Esteghlal FC (IRN) to pay fines of US$39,000 and US$12,000 for the misconduct of its spectators during their matches against Al Sadd (QAT) (AFC Champions League 2017 Play-off Stage) on February 7, 2017 and PFC Lokomotiv (UZB) (AFC Champions League 2017 Group A match) on March 13, 2017 respectively. 

Home fans were found to have flashed laser beams at the away club players and the referee in both matches, as well as throwing missiles which caused explosions during the Play-off Stage match.

Esteghlal FC (IRN) was also ordered to play one (1) match without spectators, suspended for a probationary period of two (2) years Should another violation of Article 65 or future equivalent of the Code (‘liability for spectator conduct’) occur within the probationary period, the suspension is automatically revoked and the sanction applied; it is added to the sanction pronounced for the new infringement.

If invoked, this order shall apply to the next match in AFC club competitions hosted by Esteghlal FC in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

All decisions have been notified to the respective Member Associations.

All decisions made by the AFC Disciplinary Committee at its most recent meeting can be found here.