City to make Irish Cup appeal following IFA decision

Newry City FC have launched an appeal against the Irish Football Association’s decision to reject their appeal over the eligibility of Ballymena’s Alan Davidson in a recent Irish Cup encounter.

Newry Times reported this week that Ballymena faced ejection from the Irish Cup following a 2-1 win over Newry, a game in which Davidson scored the winner. City have launched an appeal on the player’s eligibility following claims he signed for Ballymena after the cup deadline.

Speaking on the decision from the IFA, City boss Pat McGibbon said, “We’re extremely disappointed. I expect the club will take this as far as we can. We certainly won’t be accepting this decision.”

The IFA have stated that since Davidson was on a free contract, he could be eligible for the Irish Cup up until the 31st March. A statement from the IFA said, “It should be noted that Challenge Cup Rule 4 states ‘all players must be registered by their clubs, in accordance with the appropriate league regulations’ and also in line with IFA Article 2 which says ‘where there is conflict between the statutes of Fifa and Uefa and these Articles (IFA Articles), the statutes of Fifa and Uefa shall prevail’.”

With City’s initial appeal rejected, Ballymena are now set to face Linfield in the Irish Cup semi-finals on the 31st March.

Short URL: https://newrytimes.com/?p=8068

Posted by Declan McAteer on Mar 9 2012. Filed under Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry