The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have suspended Al Nasr forward Wanderley for 60 days as they investigate his nationality status after claims that his Indonesian passport is not authentic.
Nasr had signed the forward in the summer from Sharjah, and though Brazilian born, he had been registered with the AFC as an Asian player by Nasr due to having an Indonesian passport.
Wanderley scored twice on his debut for Nasr in their 3-0 victory over El Jaish in the first leg of their Asian Champions League (ACL) quarter-final tie last month to put them in a strong position to reach the last four.
But attention has fallen on Wanderley, 27, after Indonesian state authorities on Wednesday had announced that Wanderley’s Indonesian passport was a “forged or falsified” document.
A news release from the AFC today said: “According to the regulations (Article 26.4.3), any player participating in the ACL shall be deemed ineligible if the AFC determines that any document submitted during registration is false.”
Once the investigation into Wanderley’s passport authenticity is complete it will be handed to the AFC Disciplinary Committee for its decision and any sanctions, if Wanderley is found to have not been eligible to participate, will be given to both the player and Nasr.
The second leg of the quarter-final with El Jaish is on September 14, with their first Arabian Gulf League game of the new season at Al Dhafra on September 18.
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