AFC Wimbledon - ePetition to the Sports Minister

[upferretmadferret]

Dear Friends,

 

ePetition link: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/wimbledon/

 

The FA has recently imposed extraordinarily harsh penalties (£12,000 fine, expulsion from the FA Trophy and an 18 point deduction) on our club for an innocuous administrative oversight.  No unfair advantage was either sought or gained when we failed to realise that an International Clearance Certificate (ICC) was needed when we recently signed an English player from a club playing in the English League and participating in the English FA Cup.  The FA considered that the lack of an ICC meant the player was ‘ineligible’

 

However, given these facts, you may yourself be wondering why an ICC was required at all.  The club in question was Cardiff City and, despite their full participation in English football, their players are registered with the Welsh FA.  When a player moves from the jurisdiction of one country’s FA to another, an ICC is needed to confirm that he has no outstanding bookings or suspension.

 

      The player concerned is a very clean footballer so not only did he have no outstanding bookings or suspension but the lack of the required ICC only came to light when he received his first booking for us, by which time he had already played in 3 cup games and 11 league games.  Frustratingly, when we were made aware of the need to get an ICC, this took a total of one hour and 3 e-mails.

 

      I hope that you too recognise the enormity of the injustice and the complete lack of any proportionality between ‘crime’ and punishment and feel able to support us in this matter.  http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/wimbledon/

[Guest]

Very harsh indeed. you have my support

[SiD of WEFC]

I was appalled when I first read about the FA's reaction to your situation. Now you have made it clear that this was a minor administrative error which was never intended to gain advantage, and didn't, I can only suggest that the FA's response is exactly the sort of thing that brings the game into disrepute. Somebody should bring that charge against them - ah, but that would have to be the FA, wouldn't it. So that won't happen.

Much as I like to consider Wales a foreigh country, even I have to admit to the existence of the United Kingdom. It's one thing having a lot of red tape covering the transfer of a player from Slovenia, or even France, but transferring between parts of Great Britain should be covered by some sort of automated system. Next time the FA decide to fine somebody £12,000 they might consider investing the money in just such a system, rather than putting it into the budget for the next Board Member's Luncheon.

Best of luck with your appeal.

SiD

[Guest]

There are plenty of examples of clubs being penalised because they have fielded players previously playing in other countries withouT obtaining an ICC, why should it be any different in this case. Wales is another country, it does have its own FA and the correct procedure was not adhered to.

[Eastside Urchin]

tough,you know the rules,most clubs make clerical errors from one time to another and they seem to accept the consequences

[Guest]

also I think it's unfair to suggest a 'fine' as such. The FA (from what I understand) are merely saying AFC Wimbledon have to return the prize money they gained from progressing in the FA competitions by fielding this ineligible player.

[Guest]

This is one of those situations isn't it, how does anyone outside the club know this was an 'innocent' mistake and not the club just expecting to get away with it. Wimbledon are a big club at this level and should know the rules (especially as they used to be associated with a professional club)and i for one would be really annoyed if a club got away with breaking the rules, innocently or not, and gained promotion ahead of my team. You are going to have to take the punishment for the crime committed and be grown up about it. By all means appeal, i would, but don't expect terrific amount of sympathy from the teams you will have gained an advantage over or teams that do not have the clear advantages a club in your position has.

Fuzzy