Mark Bresciano has taken his four-month FIFA ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The Australian midfielder copped the sanction for apparent conflict regarding his August 2012 transfer from Al Nasr to Al-Gharafa but wants to challenge the decision.
CAS says that Bresciano and Al-Gharafa have lodged an appeal but the former Parma, Palermo and Lazio man's World Cup dream may still be crushed as the court's final verdict is likely to be made in about four months which could see him suspended when the 2014 tournament rolls around in June.
"We're pretty confident, we wouldn't be appealing if we weren't," Bresciano told News Corp Australia.
"It's risky whichever way you look at it, but we've discussed it and in our view it's a calculated risk.
"It's not ideal, but I also had to think about missing those four months leading into the World Cup, it could've been done but it wasn't ideal preparation either.
"But the biggest factor in this decision is that I am innocent.
"We'll wait and see what the CAS decides. If they accept the application for stay I can start playing straight away."
