Queen’s Park face being thrown out of the Scottish Cup after being charged by the Scottish FA over fielding an ineligible player in Tuesday’s Scottish Cup win over Inverness.
Forward Euan Henderson started the rearranged 2-0 fourth round win in the Highlands but only joined on loan from Hearts six days after the original clash was postponed on January 21.
And Scottish FA rules state that only those registered before the initial date are eligible to play.
The Scottish FA have raised a notice of complaint over an alleged breach of rule 303: Eligibility — clubs shall observe the terms of Competition Rule 12 (Specifically 12.5).
The hearing will take place on Friday at Hampden and Owen Coyle’s side are now in danger of being thrown out of the competition.
Clubs face a mandatory ejection from the cup or financial penalties if found guilty of such breaches but going by similar incidents in the past it appears that the Championship leaders face a fight to keep their place in the cup.
Expulsion would see Inverness being reinstated in the competition ahead of a trip to Livingston in the fifth round next weekend.
Brechin City were thrown out of the cup in 2008 after fielding two ineligible players - Michael Paton and Willie Dyer - in a fourth round replay victory over Hamilton.
A Queen’s Park statement released yesterday read: “Queen's Park Football Club would advise that they are in discussions with the Scottish Football Association regarding the eligibility of a player in last night's Scottish Cup tie at Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
“An internal review to establish the facts will be carried out and the club will be making no further comment until this is done.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel