Soccer: A League players insist they have right to appeal

The A-League's disciplinary procedures will eventually be struck down by the courts unless they are changed, the players' representative body says.

Professional Footballers Australia chief executive Brendan Schwab said new rules for the current season preventing players from appealing against match review panel decisions denied them natural justice.

The issue has come to a head after two players - Perth Glory striker Michael Baird and Central Coast midfielder Patricio Perez - were each banned for two games for alleged weekend diving offences.

Under the new Football Federation Australia regulations, they have no right of appeal.

Schwab said the PFA supported the crackdown on diving, but not the denial of an opportunity for the players to plead their cases.

"We think that's a fundamental denial of natural justice, we think that FFA does not lawfully have the power to do it. If the rules were challenged in court the challenge would succeed," Schwab said yesterday.

"We fail to understand why FFA has taken the position it has taken, given all we're asking for is a hearing."

Schwab said the PFA had strongly argued against the new disciplinary rules when they were introduced before the season, but made no headway with the FFA.

But he predicted that if the ruling body did not buckle during the season, it would face a losing court battle come finals time.

Players can challenge any sanction imposed above the mandatory penalty for an offence.

Meanwhile, the PFA has announced 12 nominees for next month's footballer of the year award, with the list dominated by Socceroos, although Gold Coast and New Zealand striker Shane Smeltz and Melbourne Victory's Costa Rican midfielder Carlos Hernandez are also included.

- AAP