Wexford FC in dock
Club disputes ineligible player call
WEXFORD FC have come out fighting, saying the club did nothing wrong and were acting in good faith, after being handed down a punishment for fielding an ineligible player in four league matches.
An investigation began in September to determine whether the First Division side’s summer signing Ola Adeyemo (25), who has played for UCD, Dundee United, East Fife, Watford, Norwegian side Valdres FK, and English non-league outfits Walton Casuals and Lewes, had the proper international clearance.
In a statement, the Football Association of Ireland Appeal Committee confirmed that the club had broken ‘Clause 14.14 of Schedule 1 of the Participation Agreement that an ineligible player was fielded’.
As a result, their matches against Athlone Town, Cabinteely, Shamrock Rovers II and Cobh Ramblers from the end of July to the middle of August have now all been recorded as 3-0 defeats.
They had taken four points out of a possible twelve in those games, courtesy of a 3-1 win in Athlone and a scoreless draw against Cabinteely, so Wexford’s overall tally for the season has now dropped from nine points to five.
After a transfer from English non-league outfit Lewes FC, Adeyemo, who was raised in Dublin, made four appearances for Brian O’Sullivan’s side before questions arose about his International Transfer Certificate, and he has not appeared for the club since.
It emerged that Adeyemo signed documents with Swedish club Ytterhogdals earlier in the year, but the transfer never materialised because of the Covid-19 pandemic. He then joined Wexford FC, and Secretary/Treasurer Ray Noonan claimed it was deficiencies in FIFA’s Transfer Matching System (TMS) that led to the subsequent problem.
‘Ola came to train with us in July and we were very interested in signing him, so the manager asked me to do the transfer. Ola told me the last club he played with and was registered with was Lewes FC in England,’ Noonan said.
‘You do those transfers through FIFA’s TMS system, it’s an online secure system. Basically it’s a player passport and it determines whether your transfer is done properly or not. We went in and found Ola’s record, and, as he had said, Lewes FC was the listed club, so we pressed the button and within a day or so the FA had come back with the International Transfer Certificate, which is basically proof that the transfer has been made. The FAI acknowledged receipt of that and confirmed his registration,’ he explained.
Then, at the end of August, Wexford FC were advised by the FA that they made an error in issuing the certificate and wished to cancel the transfer.
And although the player was immediately stood down, he had already lined out on four occasions for the club.
‘As far as we were concerned, we had done everything by the book and Ola played, but about four weeks later, just before the end of August, we got a phone call to say the FA had put their hands up and said there was an error made.
‘The transfer shouldn’t have been confirmed and they wanted to cancel it. He had previously transferred out to a Swedish team, but they never logged it.
‘When we asked the player, he said his agent had arranged for him to go to a Swedish club back in February, before Covid.
‘He said he’s never been to Sweden and doesn’t intend going there with the Covid situation, but it transpired that he signed a document that was written in Swedish.
‘He claims that it was completely innocent, and you’d have to believe him, because he has nothing to gain from not telling us. We could have just processed the transfer from Sweden and none of this would have happened. It should have been logged correctly by the FA,’ Noonan said.
The FAI had originally found in favour of Wexford FC when the investigation into the matter concluded at the start of October, after a FIFA probe had done
likewise, and the Ferrycarrig Park outfit were not sanctioned, but rival First Division club Cabinteely, who are chasing a play-off place, challenged the decision and their appeal was upheld.
‘A whole series of investigations started. The FAI did their own internal one and Michael Hayes, who has passed away since, God rest him, went through it.
‘He was fully satisfied that we had done everything by the book and acted in good faith at all times.
‘An email was read to the appeal hearing from FIFA, and they said they had looked into it and as far as they were concerned there’s no case to answer.
‘Cabinteely got wind of this, so they put in a complaint and we were sent to a disciplinary hearing. They found in our favour because they couldn’t see anything we could have done differently. It then cost Cabinteely €500 to send it to an appeals committee, and it was there that the outcome went against us,’ Noonan said.
Wexford revealed they are strongly considering bringing the matter to arbitration, although Noonan stressed that pathway comes with a massive financial risk.
‘Now we’re facing a decision about going to arbitration and, while it cost Cabinteely €500 to raise an appeal, it will cost us €5,000 to go through the arbitration process, so that is another injustice as far as we’re concerned.
‘They’re the rules and if the decision goes in our favour we’ll get the money back. We have to put that money at risk and obviously, given the current circumstances, financially this is a big decision for us.
‘The sanction was to forfeit the four games that Ola played and a fine of €2,500 per match played, which is €10,000 in total, but in the circumstances the appeal hearing rescinded that fine for twelve months. I think what that means is, if we don’t re-offend, the fine will fall off and we won’t have to pay it, but at the same time it’s hanging over us.
‘Getting the four points is not going to change our position in the table, and the fine is suspended so we’ve a decision to make. There’s money involved but reputational damage is important as well. We’ve taken a lot of flak over this so we’d really like to set the record straight. We’re weighing that up at the moment.
‘I’ve written to FIFA, the same people who exonerated us. The TMS system is heavily undermined in my view.
‘If anyone gets a transfer certificate how can they be sure that it’s solid if an association makes an error and comes back to you a few weeks later and says “sorry we messed up”,’ Noonan said.
This is the third time Wexford FC have been deducted points for fielding an ineligible player, having a 1-1 draw with Shelbourne scratched out in 2017 for playing Under-17 goalkeeper Colum Feeney who wasn’t registered with the first team.
And less than twelve months later they mistakenly brought on the suspended Thomas Croke as a substitute in a 1-0 win over Athlone Town, but Noonan said when they made errors in the past they took it firmly on the chin.
‘When we make a mistake we hold our hands up and say we deserve whatever sanction is issued. We made mistakes in those situations and we admitted it,’ he said.
In a difficult week for the club, Friday’s First Division meeting with Drogheda United was postponed after Wexford FC confirmed a case of Covid-19, with the FAI saying in a statement that there had been the potential identification of close contacts to the player who tested positive within the squad.
The club clarified that the player was asymptomatic, and the match has been re-fixed for next Saturday, October 24, at 3 p.m.
Meanwhile, the Football Association of Ireland postponed all elite under-age football matches that were due to take place over the weekend in the interest of public health as they awaited the outcome of the Cabinet meeting.
This decision saw Wexford FC’s Under-13, -15, -17 and -19 boys’ teams, and the girls’ Under-17 team, all affected.