Brian Kerr is amazed that Albion Rovers have been kicked out of the Irn Bru Cup for fielding an ineligible player.
UEFA and FIFA apply that rule without any hesitation but it seems open to interpretation in Scotland.
In July the Supreme Court in London announced that Rangers (IL) had fielded ineligible players for over a decade thanks to side contracts that weren’t registered with the SPL or the SFA.
According to Neil Doncaster and Rod McKenzie the SPL and SPFL had no means of punishing the old club from Ibrox but yesterday they acted swiftly to boot Rovers out of the Irn Bru Cup and a second round tie at home to Linfield.
Kerr told the Daily Record: “There was no attempt to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes as Liam has been here for a while. There was an error in registering his contract. We held our hands up to that and expected a fine and the game replayed.
“To be thrown out is harsh, it’s so disappointing for the club in terms of a game against Linfield and I feel sorry for the players as they were blameless in all of this. They are the ones who have been most severely punished.”
Rovers have also been fined £2,000 for what does appear to be a genuine administrative error.
With the recent leniency shown to Rangers (IL) there has been talk of the club appealing against the decision but it remains to be seen if their directors are interested in challenging clear double standards being applied by the football authorities.