West of Scotland League chiefs have blasted back at Gartcairn over their claims that the Airdrie club were wrongly docked 15 points and fined £500 for fielding an ineligible player.
Gartcairn reacted angrily to the charges in a statement, after the club were dropped to second-bottom of the West of Scotland Premier Division as a result of their sanction.
They claimed that the player in question was signed and registered correctly but that the Scottish FA had no record of it having taken place.
That resulted in heavy sanctions, and Gartcairn garnered a bit of sympathy in the football community, with Indigo Communications withdrawing all financial support to the West of Scotland League as a result.
But in a statement issued today, West of Scotland League bosses said they were right to impose the sanctions, Gartcairn have been refused a right to appeal, and now consider the matter closed.
Their statement read: “The West of Scotland Football League are disappointed by the recent statement issued on behalf of Gartcairn FC following a sanction of a 15 point deduction and a £500 fine imposed on the club by the League’s Disciplinary Committee.
“Normally the League do not comment on individual disciplinary cases but following the release of the statement by Gartcairn FC and the subsequent comments on social media, we feel that we have no option other than to put the record straight.
“It is the position of the Board of the West of Scotland Football League that Gartcairn FC failed to register the player in question with the Scottish FA and that this was not due to a failure of the Scottish FA’s Comet system.
“The player in question played 8 league matches for Gartcairn FC as a trialist. West of Scotland Football League rules only permit a player, other than a goalkeeper, to play a maximum of three matches as a trialist, after which he must be a registered player to participate in League matches.
“Following an investigation by the League’s Discipline Secretary, a disciplinary hearing was arranged and, following evidence provided by Gartcairn FC, the Disciplinary Committee deferred making a decision to seek further clarification from the Scottish FA’s Comet team regarding the process surrounding the players’ registration.
“Once a response to that request was received, the Disciplinary Committee, from the evidence available to it, made the determination that no registration form for the player in question had been submitted to the Scottish FA. It was also confirmed by the Comet Developers that the registration form provided by the Club to support their claim had not been generated by the Comet system.
“With this evidence, the Disciplinary Committee therefore reached the determination that the player had not been registered by Gartcairn FC and imposed the appropriate sanction as stipulated in the League’s constitution.
“Following the Disciplinary Committee’s determination, Gartcairn FC exercised their right to appeal the decision to the Scottish FA. However following a review of the case, their application for Leave to Appeal was dismissed.
“It was after the outcome of this process that the League imposed the relevant sanction on the Club.
“It is therefore the position of the West of Scotland Football League Board that all due process was followed and that the decision made was based on the evidence available to the Disciplinary Committee.”
The statement continued: “Following the introduction of Comet, the West of Scotland Football League organised a Comet training session for member clubs at Hampden Park. This was over and above any training provided by the Scottish FA.
“Members of the Scottish FA’s Comet team were present at this session and praised it’s content , accuracy and delivery of the session. The board members who delivered that training have also supported a number of clubs with queries regarding Comet.
“It is also stated by Gartcairn FC in their statement that there have been ‘over 100 ineligible player teamline incidents…….to which clubs have been fined and removed from competitions…….due to clubs and league committees not understanding Comet’.
“Whilst we are unaware of the situation regarding other Leagues and competitions in Scotland, of the 80 member clubs in the West of Scotland Football League, there have been three investigations at clubs regarding player ineligibility due to possible player registration offences, including Gartcairn, and no other cases are currently in the pipeline.
“On Monday morning, an email was received from Mr Craig Armstrong, director of Indigo Unified Communications indicating that the company were withdrawing their sponsorship of the West of Scotland Football League Cup.
“The Board of the West of Scotland Football League are disappointed that Indigo Unified Communications have made this decision as they have been a valuable partner to the League over the past two years. However we thank them for their support of the West of Scotland Football League and wish them every success for the future.
“The West of Scotland Football League now consider this matter to be closed and will not be making any further statements on the matter.”
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