The FAI today confirmed they received a formal appeal from Shelbourne against the eircom League for failing to dock St Patrick’s Athletic points after they inadvertently fielded an unregistered player.
"We received an appeal from Shelbourne and [FAI General Secretary] Brendan Menton now has 14 days to appoint an appeals committee to hear both sides of the situation," explained a spokesman for the FAI.
Last week St Pat’s were fined £1000 for fielding teenage midfielder Paul Marney in the opening three games of the season. However, the rules clearly stipulate that St Pat's should have been deducted three points for every game in which Marney appeared.
Shelbourne stressed this appeal is against the eircom League, and not St. Pat’s themselves, because they believe the decision to be an illegal interpretation of the rules, bringing the entire league into disrepute.
Shelbourne’s fear is that, should the decision stand, it could set a dangerous precedent for clubs in the future to simply argue they made a mistake, or claim incompetence, and escape being punished to the letter of the law. Shels argue the decision "means that all rules are now subject to the whims and private interpretation of the Officers hearing the case."
In a statement on the official Shelbourne website, the club claim: "This totally illogical and illegal interpretation of the rules places our club in the position in which we believe we must appeal the decision and therefore it pits club against club in a manner that should not happen."
"It means that the rulebook can now be set aside and ignored, as it has no validity."
Roy Dooney, Commissioner for the eircom League, was responsible for last week's decision being reached.
He explained today: "The appeal is a matter for the FAI, we will take no part unless we are called to explain our action."
Dooney believes the hearing may take place some time next week.