Reynolds wary of ‘ineligibility bug’
Following Red Stripe Premier League outfit FC Reno being slapped with a $50,000 fine on Thursday by the Premier League Clubs Association of Jamaica (PLCA), technical director Vassell Reynolds describes the incident as “a bug that has caught him again.”
Reno were fined for fielding Omar Johnson, an ineligible player, on Sunday, in their 2-0 defeat to runaway leaders Portmore United. Vassell told STAR Sports that this is his third running with such an offence and would have to put it down as a mere human error.
“It’s difficult to understand and accept, but I guess it matters not your status, as sometimes we do make errors. I have no reason to feel that the person who was in charge of such statistics is negligent. This is a person who is always on the ball with such information,” said Reynolds.
Adding to their fine, the match was ruled as a 30 defeat to Reno, which sees them remaining 10th on 39 points, with a -3 goal difference. They remain behind Humble Lion (eighth, +4 goal difference) and UWI FC (ninth, -1 goal difference), who have the same number of points.
MUCH IMPACT
Reynolds noted that losing the game would not have had much impact on Reno, however, he is concerned that it may come back to haunt them for a play-off spot later.
“I guess, on points standing it would really affect us only for the fact that we would have lost a goal on the negative side. Based on the set up of things, one would want to believe that things may well boil down to goal difference. In that respect, it is something that we would be concerned about,” said Reynolds.
“From a psychological point of view, as coaches and players, we would be thinking ‘What if we had won the game?’,” he added.