Fulham could hear appeal fate on Saturday
Fulham, preparing an appeal against FIFA’s order to pay Valencia almost £500,000 (€717,000) after a row over John Carew’s aborted move, could now discover FIFA’s final verdict on the long-running Steve Marlet transfer saga next Saturday.
In the Carew case, world football’s governing body ruled the Cottagers broke transfer laws by agreeing a deal subject to a medical – which he failed – and said they must pay Valencia 5% of his proposed switch.
Marlet’s deal went through in August 2001 but the Cottagers refused to pay the final £3.27m (€4.69m) chunk of the fee due to concerns over the role of agents in the deal.
FIFA ordered Fulham to pay up back in February.
The club appealed and the case involving Marlet – who Fulham ironically now want to sell to reduce their wage bill – could finally be assessed next Saturday.
However, that depends on FIFA’s 24-man executive committee finding time - because the main purpose of the meeting at the Hotel Sofitel in Paris is to assess plans to bump the 2006 World Cup up from 32 teams to 36.
If the Marlet appeal is not on the agenda, the full executive committee would not be able to discuss it again until their next meeting in Doha, Qatar, in October.
However, FIFA rules state an appeal “may be dealt with by an ad hoc three-man sub-committee” who could meet on another date over the summer.
A FIFA spokesman told the Press Association: “Fulham formally appealed the decision taken by FIFA’s players’ status committee on February 26.
“This matter falls under the jurisdiction of the October 1997 regulations on the status and transfer of players – and as such, appeals come before the executive committee.
“The next executive committee meeting is on June 28 and this case will potentially be on the agenda for that meeting.”
