The Court of Arbitration for Sport based in Switzerland has ruled Aiyaz Mohammed Musa Umarji is eligible to contest for the position of Vice President (West) for the Fiji Football Association.
The decision has come overnight with lawyers for Mr Umarji and Fiji Football Association, all based in Switzerland making their cases before the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The elections are scheduled to be held tomorrow and a list of candidates released by Fiji Football Association does not have Mr Umarji as a candidate.
“The present dispute concerns a decision of the FFA Governance Committee issued on 27 May 2025 denying the Applicant’s (Mr Umarji) eligibility to contest for the position of vice-president,” states the ruling by Corinne Schmidhauser, President of the Appeals Arbitration Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport
“Grounds for the denial decision are the charges brought in 2019 against the Applicant in relation to the import of pseudoephedrine in New Zealand.”
“The Applicant later pleaded guilty and, on 9 August 2023, was sentenced to four years imprisonment. The sentence was later reduced to three years and six months on appeal. On 19 September 2024, the Applicant was granted parole.”
“The Applicant returned to Fiji on 9 October 2024, after serving a 14-month sentence.”
The Court notes parallel disciplinary proceedings were opened against the Applicant (Mr Umarji) by FIFA for possible breach of the FIFA Code of Ethics.
“The proceedings were closed on 24 March 2025, as the Investigatory Chamber of FIFA concluded that “there are not sufficient grounds to establish that the rules of the FIFA Code of Ethics (“FCE’) have been breached”.
After hearing both sides of the parties yesterday, the President of the Appeals Arbitration Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport made a ruling last night Fiji times.
“The decision of the Governance Committee of the Fiji Football Association dated 27 May 2025 is stayed.”
“Mr Aiyaz Mohammed Musa Umarji is declared eligible to contest for the position of Vice President (West) in the elections of the Fiji Football Association on 30 May 2025, pending a decision on his Appeal.”
“If elected, the effective assumption of office of Mr Aiyaz Mohammed Musa Umarji is stayed until a final decision in the present arbitration.”
