Switzerland escape international football ban after FA fulfil Fifa decision to dock FC Sion 36 points

Following the club's decision to field ineligible players against Celtic, they were subsequently banned from the Europa League, and have now been punished domestically

By Enis Koylu

Christian Constantin, President FC Sion
Getty
Switzerland have avoided a ban from international competition after Fifa accepted the Swiss FA (ASF)'s decision to dock 36 points from FC Sion.

Sion had used ineligible players in a Europa League qualifying tie against Celtic, leading to their dismissal from the competition and a lengthy legal battle.

The disagreement had led to suggestions that Manchester United could be reinstated to the Champions League in place of FC Basel, after the Swiss side dumped the Premier League side out of the tournament.

Fifa had threatened to ban all Swiss teams from international competitions should the ASF support Sion, but the club has since been handed the points deduction.

"The Fifa emergency committee decided yesterday (January 5) to consider the requirements established by the Fifa Executive Committee on December 16 as  fulfilled by the Swiss Football Association by its decision from December 30 and that the ASF will consequently not be suspended in relation to the Fifa Executive Committe's decision of December 16," a Fifa statement read.

The points deduction has left Sion at the foot of the table with minus-five points, 16 adrift of Lausanne.


 
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England 1-0 Belgium, Netherlands 2-0 Northern Ireland - follow all the international action LIVE! ahead of Euro 2012
With countries across the continent gearing up for their final warm-up games ahead of Euro 2012, join us for all the action from Saturday's friendlies. Get in touch with us via Twitter with your reaction.

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19:38 BST
Here's Roy Hodgson's reaction to the result and some injury chat: "I'm very pleased, it's been a hard week and we've used a lot of players. There was a lot of disruption in the second-half with substitutions – some forced upon us, some we wanted to do. But it's still a very good end to the week playing against a good Belgian team here. Arguably even stronger than the Norwegian team we played last week and I've got to be more than happy that we've come out with another victory."

"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."

Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
19:35 BST
And another point from today: Eden Hazard wasn't great. Don't think you can judge him on one performance though. What do you think? Is it just a case of too much hype around the Chelsea-bound Belgian?
19:32 BST
We're getting plenty of people saying it was boring. PLENTY. But Spain scored seven goals in eight games at the World Cup and I didn't hear too many of their fans complaining. Or as Fran Stinchcombe points out on Twitter: "If we had lost but played free flowing attacking football would these people still have moaned?"
19:24 BST
No, no, no. I'll have none of that Emile Heskey shouting anymore! Hello, it's me, it's me, it's that D-O-Y-L-E. Yes, I'm Joe Doyle, and I'll be here for all the reaction to that England game. First things first, how did everyone see that game? Good performance? A touch boring? Let me know on Twitter.
19:17 BST
Right, that’s me, Danny Hart, done. Joe Doyle is itching to retain his LIVE! crown for the evening. England reaction, Netherlands-Northern Ireland updates and much, much more - Doyle will be across it all. England are gonna win the Euros! And remember: EMILE HESKEY. Cheerio!
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