CONCACAF Gold Cup Guyana moves forward after Barbados sanctioned over ineligible players

Guyana’s hopes of qualifying for their maiden CONCACAF Gold Cup received a timely boost, as the regional confederation has sanctioned the Barbados FA for fielding ineligible players during the team’s matchup in the Nations League.

The two teams played to a 2-2 draw at the National Track and Field Centre, Leonora on September 6th.

Following the conclusion of the match, the Golden Jaguars would have lodged a protest against the Barbadians over the eligibility of English-born duo Hallam Hope and Krystian Pearce.

According to an official release from CONCACAF, “North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) today announced its Disciplinary Committee has decided to sanction the Barbados Football Association, by declaring as a forfeit the Concacaf Nations League Qualifying match played against Guyana, on September 6, 2018.”

The correspondence stated, “After due examination of the evidence, the Committee determined that the Barbados Football Association infringed the applicable articles of the Tournament Regulations and the Regulations Governing the Application of the FIFA Statutes in relation to the eligibility of players to play for representative teams by fielding ineligible players Hallam Hope and Krystian Pearce.”

“In accordance with articles 55 and 31 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, the Barbados Football Association is considered to have lost the match against Guyana by a score of 3-0. The result of the match played against El Salvador on October 13, 2018 is upheld in accordance with article 31 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, with a score of 3-0 in favor of El Salvador”, the release concluded. Due to the favourable ruling, Guyana will climb from 15th position into the eighth place, which is an automatic qualification berth for the Gold Cup heading in the final round against Belize on March 21st 2019.