Senegalese forward Pape Omar Faye - whose suspension by FIFA since late 2009 is still taking effect - strangely has been allowed to play in Vietnam for nearly one year.
After being suspended for suspected match fixing while playing in Switzerland in 2009, Faye managed to sign a contract in January 2011 to play for Vietnam’s top-tier V-League club Thanh Hoa since January last year.

He has scored a total of 15 goals to help Thank Hoa rank 7th on the 2011 V-League table against 14 teams.

But his illegal status has only been dug up recently when FIFA notified the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) and the Thanh Hoa club of Faye’s open-ended suspension.

The suspension means the 24-year-old player is not permitted to play globally until the match-fixing investigation is over.

Thanh Hoa coach Trieu Quang Ha said he has asked for clarification from VFF on FIFA’s overdue notice since the club signed the man nearly a year ago.

Faye was involved in the scandal in the FC Thun club and was then suspended for one game. Soon later, he was fired without notice from the club on January, 2010.

Four months later, he was given the suspension. After that, he journeyed unsuspected into Vietnam.

Tuoitre