Panafrican News Agency

Mauritian football club fined for not using FIFA's TMS paperwork

Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) - World Football Governing Body, FIFA, has sanctioned Mauritian club, Cercle de Joachim, for failing to use its Transfer Matching System (TMS).

Cercle de Joachim was fined more than US$10,000 for failing to comply with FIFA’s regulations governing the recruitment of foreign players.

In December 2019, the club recruited five footballers from teams in Madagascar but failed to use the TMS for four of those players.

“The FIFA Disciplinary Committee found the Cercle of Joachim Sports Club responsible for the infringement of the relevant provisions of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP) related to the mandatory use of TMS for all international transfers of professional players,” FIFA said in a statement.

The club now has 30 days to pay the fine and was also given a warning over future infringements.

Mauritius Football Association president, Samir Sobh, said “We have paid half the sum, as it represents a significant amount.

“We have asked FIFA (if we could) pay the outstanding balance in three instalments, but we are yet to receive a reply from them. This is a complicated situation where we have found ourselves in.

“You know we have players who went to France, Portugal, Spain, Australia, and Canada but they have only asked for manual transfers.

“For the United States, they neither ask for the manual transfer nor for the TMS.

“We found this sanction very unjust as we sent FIFA all the documents to prove our good faith but we are complying to the decision.”

-0- PANA VAO 20July2020