FIFA ready to expel Swiss FA over Sion- Champions League hope for Manchester United

The Swiss football authorities have been given until January 13 to punish Sion for fielding ineligible players or face being kicked out of all international football.

FIFA are furious that the Sion case was allowed to drag on for months and are determined to ensure that their regulations are observed throughout the game. If no action is taken against Sion the Swiss national side will be banned from international matches with club teams thrown out of UEFA competitions.

Sion were expelled from the Europa League for fielding ineligible players in both legs of their qualifier with Celtic but have escaped punishment for using those players in the Swiss League.

Basel face the biggest punishment with exclusion from the Champions League which could allow Manchester United back into the tournament and a meeting with Bayern Munich for a place in the last eight of the competition.

A statement from FIFA read: “The executive decided to give a final deadline of 13 January 2012 to the Swiss FA to enforce the registration ban imposed on Sion by the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber and confirmed by the Swiss Federal Court and to sanction the attitude of the club repeatedly trying to circumvent this decision in a legally abusive manner.

“As a consequence, all matches in which the relevant players participated shall be declared forfeit or three points shall be deducted respectively. Should this deadline not be respected, the Swiss FA will be automatically suspended from 14 January 2012 onwards.”

The Swiss FA initially backed FIFA’s transfer embargo on signing players but backed down four games into the league season. A number of clubs have filed complaints about Sion fielding ineligible players but the Swiss FA have been unwilling to take any further sanctions against the club who have gone to the civil courts to overturn previous rulings.

Sion chairman Christian Constantin has refused to back down in the row leaving the Swiss FA to choose between sanctions from FIFA or further actions through the civil courts.

Both FIFA and UEFA have their headquarters in Switzerland but jealously guard their independence insisting that football disputes are settled in-house rather than in civil courts.

CLICK HERE for Peter Lawwell: It’s not the Green Brigade

CLICK HERE for Fraser Forster we deserved to win

Follow Video Celts on Twitter, Facebook