|
Tokyo, Wed 9th April.
Having beaten BFC 2-1 in the FJ cup quarter finals on Saturday, April 5th at Oi Futo, the Swiss were forced to relinquish their semi-final spot to their British adversaries due to one of their players having played for another team in the same competition - in strict contravention of the tournaments rules: HERE
FJ Competitions personnel, responsible for tracking & updating match statistics came across the infringement and quite rightly informed the tournament organizer, who, having sought counsel from senior referees, other amateur and professional competitions run in a similar manner, ruled that a forfeit win be given to BFC for gross infringement of the tournament's rules.
"It's no way to win a game of football," said BFC's captain Jon Day. "Especially seeing as the better team won on the day, but I guess if the rules are bent, or overlooked in one instance, it doesn't set a very good precedent for the future. I feel for the Swiss as our two teams have a long and healthy history - I hope this won't affect this too much."
The official word from Footy Japan KK was:
"This wasn't a nice decision to have to make, but the rules are there for a reason. We hope this sends a message to all the teams playing in any Footy Japan organized football, that the captains especially & their players as well should be aware of the rules of the competition and follow them to the letter, or risk being sanctioned. Ignorance will never be an excuse"
Report by FootyJapan
|