The club says it accepts the mistake but does not agree with QFA’s final decision.
Al Wakrah Sports Club has been slapped with a QR 10,000 fine by the Qatar Football Association’s disciplinary committee for violating match regulations during the Ooredoo Cup semi-final on Saturday.
The committee ruled in favour of Al Sailiya SC, who brought forward the claim that Al Wakrah brought striker Jassim Al Jalabi on as a substitute, but failed to include his name in the match list.
Under article No. 61/E of disciplinary regulations, this move was a violation of match rules.
QFA’s move also affected the outcome of the match, which stripped Al Wakrah of its 3-0 win against Al Sailiya.
This means Al Sailiya will qualify for the final for the 2020/21 Ooredoo Cup where they will come face to face with Al Rayyan, who beat Al Gharafa 3-0 in the second semifinal on Sunday evening.
Al Wakrah SC took to Twitter to react to the “exaggerated” decision.
“Al-Wakrah Club management expresses its extreme surprise regarding the news that an exaggerated penalty could be imposed on the club’s football team after the administrative mistake that occurred in the Al-Wakrah match with Al-Sailiya in the Ooredoo Cup by involving the player Jassim Al-Jalabi, despite the absence of his name in the match list,” the tweet said.
The club said it accepts “committing this mistake,” but that doesn’t necessarily mean it “accepts that the team will be subjected to an exaggerated penalty that is not included in the Disciplinary Committee Regulations.”
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Last month, similar action was taken against Al Sadd SC’s Akram Afif, who was fined and temporarily suspended by QFA for two matches due to comments made to local media.
Afif said his team was playing “against 11 and a half players” suggesting a biased referee was officiating the game.
The referee “did not provide us protection against rough play by Al Rayyan’s players”, Afif said, noting the official was also wearing “black shorts and socks” similar to the the opposing team.
The QFA’s decision ruled the comments were a violation of Articles No. 77/4 and 3-9/1 of the Discipline Regulations for the 2020-2021 sports season, which stipulates all those who make statements “that harm the federation or the management of the Qatar Stars League or any club or contradict their interests through the media or social media” face a penalty.
