In addition, the fine is increased to NOK 25,000. The decision is available after the appeal committee met to consider the case this week.
Mjøndalen was originally fined NOK 10,000 in the wake of the 1-0 win against Ranheim on 19 August. There, the club used a player who was to serve out the quarantine.
It was not until many weeks after the match had been played that the error came to light.
Fabian Holst-Larsen should never have been on the pitch in the match in question. At the time of the match, he had relatively recently been brought to Mjøndalen from Alta, and had two yellow cards with him from his time in the Finnmark club.
In addition, he incurred two yellow cards after arriving in Mjøndalen and should have sat out the meeting with Ranheim in quarantine. He didn’t.
After the protest period
Ranheim took up the matter and submitted a complaint to the Norwegian Football Association. At the same time, the challenge was that the protest period of 48 hours had long since expired.
If Mjøndalen’s use of Holst-Larsen had been discovered immediately, and the protest had been sent to the NFF within the deadline, there would have been little doubt that Ranheim would have won the match 3-0.
The fact that the deadline had expired when the breach of the rules became known created more doubt. The sentencing and sanctions committee nevertheless came to the conclusion that Mjøndalen should be deducted one point and fined. The club appealed against that decision.
In the appeal, reference was made to the fact that KFUM Oslo got away with a fine after using a player who was not eligible to play in the cup. Mjøndalen believes the two cases have clear similarities.
Read also: YMCA used a suspended player in the cup: – Unique situation
Rejected
However, the appeals committee finds that the case sets a precedent only for infringements committed in connection with cup games, and that this is clearly stated in the premises for the decision.
The Appeals Committee finds, just like the Judgments and Sanctions Committee, that there is a question of negligent use of a player who is not eligible to play, and the committee finds no reason to assess the infringement either more severely or more leniently than a one-point deduction.
It is pointed out that Mjøndalen is a club at one of the highest levels in Norwegian football, where one must be expected to know the regulations relating to warnings and quarantine and have an apparatus that handles this.
It is also pointed out that the reaction is far milder than what would have followed a protest case.
Regarding the financial sanction, the appeal committee finds that the original reaction was too lenient. The fine is therefore increased to NOK 25,000.
The one minus point could potentially be very decisive for Mjøndalen’s fight to survive in the 1st division.
Read also: Mjøndalen used a player who was not eligible to play – deducted one point in the 1st division