Liverpool avoided being dumped out of the EFL Cup in 2019 when they fielded an ineligible player during a 2-0 victory over MK Dons – despite Barnsley being expelled from the FA Cup for a similar offence. The Reds were fined £200,000 for using midfielder Pedro Chirivella despite the fact that the Spaniard did not have the required international clearance.
It comes after Barnsley were kicked out of the FA Cup for using a player who was not eligible to feature in their first-round clash with Horsham. The seventh-tier club have since been reinstated and face a second-round match against League Two Sutton.
However, Liverpool managed to avoid such a brutal penalty in a separate domestic cup competition four years ago. The same rules generally apply across both domestic tournaments, but the EFL concluded that ‘mitigating factors’ meant that expulsion would have been too harsh.
Chirivella came off the bench in the 63rd minute of the match. However, he did not have international clearance after returning from a loan spell with Spanish club Extremadura the previous campaign.
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The EFL accepted that Liverpool had attempted to request the paperwork in July 2019 but the approval cannot be granted without the consent of The Football Association. That is where Liverpool argued a small error had been made.
“Following a comprehensive review of all the evidence, the board determined that it wasn’t appropriate to expel the club from the competition because of a number of mitigating factors,” an EFL statement said at the time.
Instead, Liverpool were handed a £200,000 fine, although half was suspended. In a club statement, the Anfield outfit – who were eventually knocked out in the quarter-finals – apologised to MK Dons for the “mitigating factors” that were “beyond our control”.
Barnsley have not been quite so lucky. Their 3-0 FA Cup first-round replay victory over Horsham has been overturned after they fielded an ineligible player.
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It has not been confirmed which player was not able to play in the match but it is believed that winger Aiden Marsh might not have been allowed to play. Marsh was on loan at York at the time of the original tie, a 3-3 draw at Oakwell, and – under FA competition rules – only players eligible to play in the first match can feature in the replay.
Barnsley said: “An administrative error was brought to our attention regarding the eligibility of a player who played in last Tuesday’s game with Horsham FC. The club has fully cooperated with the investigation and has accepted the FA’s decision. We have been in contact with Horsham FC and would like to thank the club and chairman for their understanding and cooperation throughout this process.”
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