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PAM FRASER / Supplied
Canterbury United Pride, led by Captain Rebecca Lake, will host the ISPS Handa Women’s Premiership final after league leaders Auckland scored nine points.
Canterbury United Pride is scheduled to host the final of the women’s national soccer league next Sunday after the New Zealand soccer disciplinary committee overturned the governing body’s initial decision not to sanction previous Auckland leaders for fielding a ineligible player.
NZ Football announced the new decision on Friday night, less than 48 hours before Pride was set to host the Northern Lights in the final round of the regular season, needing a win or draw just to qualify for the final. , as they have done. in each of the last seven seasons.
The national governing body had previously decided not to take action against Auckland for fielding an ineligible player in its first three games of the season, and said in a statement that it had “used its discretion when it comes to issuing penalties.”
“New Zealand Football did not receive a formal protest within the 48 hour time limit given to clubs to protest and, based on the balance of information available at the time, used its discretion to address a matter that it considered genuine human error. “
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That decision was appealed on Tuesday by Capital Football, Central Football and Mainland Football, the regional federations that run the teams Auckland had beaten in those matches: Capital, Central and Pride.
In its statement on Friday, NZ Football said its disciplinary committee had ruled in its favor, citing how “regulations on the status and transfer of players [are] strict in matters of eligibility regardless of the time limits established in the competition regulations ”.
“When issues of ineligibility are known, there is no discretion about the corresponding sanction under the NZF Disciplinary Code.”
Therefore, the committee decided that the results of the three matches in question would be changed to 3-0 victories for Auckland’s opponents.
That decision means Auckland is left with three points from five games heading into its final regular-season game, against Waikato-Bay of Plenty on Sunday at Porritt Stadium in Hamilton (start at 2pm), and can no longer finish. between the first two and make the end.
Pride now has 15 points from five games and will finish first and host the final on December 20, no matter what the outcome is when they host the Lights at English Park on Sunday (starts at 1pm).
The capital will move up to second place with 13 points from six matches and will be watching that match closely as a Pride win or a draw would mean they would travel south the following week.
But if the Lights won, they would finish second with 13 points and a greater goal difference than Capital and return to Christchurch the following week for a rematch, and a rematch of the last two finals, which were won by Pride.
Before the appeal was successful, Capital was out of the race, ranking third with all their matches played, but now they have a chance to participate in a decider for the first time since 2016.
The question of eligibility affected two players with the same name. The one who had played for Auckland in their first three games was a different and older player than the one who had signed up.
Northern Region Football, which manages the Auckland team in association with the Eastern Suburbs club, said Things the error occurred when the registered player was “previously known to NRF staff through her participation in Lotto NRFL Premier League, hence the mistaken identity.”
The new decision could still be appealed by NRF.
