Glentoran's appeal against expulsion from the Irish Cup dismissed by the IFA
Glentoran’s appeal against their expulsion from the Irish Cup has been dismissed by the Irish FA.
Joe Crowe played in their 1-0 quarter-final win over Newry City – but had not completed a three-match ban he’d picked up while playing for the reserve team.
The east Belfast club thought he was eligible to play as the reserves had played three times since the dismissal – but one of those matches was an Intermediate Cup game for which he was not eligible.
As a result the IFA reinstated Newry City to the competition – a decision which Glentoran appealed.
Glentoran’s grounds of appeal were as follows:
1. That the Committee misdirected itself regarding the application and/or interpretation of the Intermediate Cup Rules, specifically Rule 13(iii);
2. The IFA Football Regulations do not apply in general and Regulation 27 does not apply specifically to the Intermediate Cup Rules;
3. The decision does not deal with, either adequately or at all, the observations made by Glentoran regarding the COMET system;
4. The decision does not take into account the impact the decision will have on Glentoran.
However, the Appeal Board dismissed all grounds of appeal by Glentoran.
As things stand, Newry City will face Ballymena United in the last-four on Wednesday 13 April - but Glentoran could still launch further legal action.
The other semi-final takes place tonight between north Belfast rivals Cliftonville and Crusaders at Windsor Park.