The International Federation of Professional Footballers (FIFPro) said that the Football Federation of Armenia (FFA) has sanctioned a number of Ukrainian players without due process.

FFA Kept Players in The Dark

The FFA Disciplinary and Ethics Committee issued the lifetime bans, which are solely based on reports from unnamed sports data suppliers.

FIFPro criticized the lack of transparency of the FFA, claiming that the players were not made aware of any procedure. The organization laments the absence of a deeper investigation.

Players Left to Pay Multiple Fees

The Ukrainian players are facing lifetime bans from professional sports. In order to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), they have to pay an advance fee of $21,860 (CHF20,000), which has increased due to the FFA refusing to pay its share of costs. The players also paid a fee to the FFA to receive the decisions and the reports supporting the bans.

FIFPro said that “disciplinary proceedings, as well as any appeal, should be free of costs”, as the current system prevents players from accessing justice.

FIFA Approves FIFPro’s Match-Fixing Report App

FIFPro launched last September its new mobile app, which allows anyone to report match-fixing in football anonymously. FIFA approved the app as a valid reporting tool for potential corruption. The governing entity and its integrity department will now investigate corruption via the data collected by the app.