Cliftonville seek arbitration as suspension row rumbles on

Next Monday's semi-finals will be the first senior action since lrish League football was suspended in March because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Reds, along with Ballymena United, who have manager David Jeffrey and Steven McCullough suspended, argued that the bans would have been already served but for Covid-19 shutdown and should no longer apply.

In a statement on the Cliftonville website Chairman Gerard Lawlor said the club "strongly disagree" with the IFA's interpretation of the rules, and added that they hoped the matter could be dealt with quickly so as not to impact on next week's semi-finals.

Chairman Gerard Lawlor stated: “While we respect the Appeals Board and their role, we strongly disagree with their interpretation of straightforward rules.

“This action is being taken along with a number of other Clubs who have supported and contacted us today. I believe this ruling affects over 330 players at all levels within Northern Ireland, which is the equivalent of 30 teams sitting out games whenever we get the go-ahead to resume playing.

“We have worked with the Irish FA to get the matter dealt with quickly and hopefully it will not impact on any Semi Finals due to take place next week.”

IFA's interpretation of its own Disciplinary Code including an article stating that a suspension must be served unless "the team that the player or official belongs is not responsible for the facts that led to the abandonment, cancellation or forfeiture of the match" was queried by the clubs.

In their response though, the IFA said that they informed the clubs that the article "was not written with a global pandemic in mind".

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