Attacking A Player Is Not A Reason Not To Play For The National Side

I freely confess that I'd never heard of this guy but this news piece on Reuters caught my eye.

It appears that Singapore's Noh Alam Shah, while being completely banned from any domestic games whatsoever, is still eligible to play for his national side.

Alam Shah was fined and banned from his domestic league after attacking Singapore Armed Forces defender Daniel Bennett during the RHB Cup Final last month. Shah elbowed and kicked Bennett and then kneed him in the back of the head when Bennett was on the ground.

However, the Singapore Football Federation has stated that Alam Shah is still eligible to play for the national side during World Cup 2010 qualifiers if selected.

By some strange coincidence, Shah is one of the most highly rated strikers in Asia, scoring 10 goals in the recent ASEAN soccer championships.

I wonder what would have happened had the guy not been such a major part of Singapore's chances of qualifying from their World Cup group?

For those that like that kind of thing, here's the YouTube video of his red card :