AFC Wimbledon Deducted 3 Points for Ineligible Player

The Football League have met and discussed the fielding of an ineligible player by AFC Wimbledon. In their brief statement the football league have said:-

A Football Disciplinary Commission has ruled that AFC Wimbledon are to be deducted three points for fielding an ineligible player, Jake Nicholson, in the League 2 fixture with Cheltenham Town on 22nd March.

AFC Wimbledon won the match 4-3 with Nicholson coming on as a substitute at half-time, before scoring his side’s second goal in the 70th minute.

The club were also fined the sum of £5,000, suspended until the end of the 2014/15 season, and must pay the costs of the hearing.

This brings the number of points earned by Wimbledon so far down to 53 points and a fall of a number of places in the table. However, they’re still safe from relegation.

By way of explanation the Wombles CEO, Erik Samuelson, has said:-

We feel that the club had a fair hearing and, while very disappointed with the result, have no intention of appealing against the decision of the Football Disciplinary Committee. The Football Club Board greatly regrets that this situation arose and apologises for the uncertainty and distress that it has caused to supporters in the days since the hearing was announced.

The explanation for the slip up was (you can read more their website):-

As a fans-owned club, we feel it is right that the events are explained in more detail to our members and the remainder of this statement does so, as well as explaining the actions that we (the Dons Trust Board) should take.

Jake Nicholson was originally signed by the club on a multiplicity contract from 19 February 2014 to 19 March 2014 and was duly registered with the Football League. A multiplicity contract (‘MC’) is the term generally used for ‘Monthly/Multiplicity registrations’. Such registrations allow a club to register a player for a minimum of one month, or longer if the club and player agree, so long as it is for a whole number of months. Such contracts do not therefore need to last until 30 June, unlike almost all other player contracts. An MC is relatively unusual and this was only the second one that the club had entered into, and the first one which the club had entered into which expired during the season.

On the date when the contract should have been extended, Thursday 20 March, the club’s offices had to be closed due to illness, a fact which was published on the club’s website. The following day, the office was re-opened but with key staff who should have organised the extension of the MC still unwell. On the Saturday of the game Jake was selected to play, with Neal Ardley unaware that he had not been re-registered. As a consequence, the club fielded an ineligible player in our game against Cheltenham Town – a game that yielded three points (with one of the goals scored by Jake).