PORTADOWN FC have lost their appeals and their first match of the season in damning verdicts from the Irish Football Association Appeals Committee.
The Shamrock Park club has lost its appeal against a 12-point deduction over paying a supposedly amateur player and Coleraine have been awarded a 3-0 win from the postponed game that was due to take place on August 6.
The IFA Appeals Committee, chaired by Mr Joseph McCrisken, ruled that Portadown had indeed brought the game into disrepute, stating “it is vitally important in maintaining sporting integrity in local football that clubs act in as transparent a manner as possible and comply with all relevant Rules and Regulations.
“It is our view that, in the case of Peter McMahon, Portadown did not act with the transparency and integrity which was expected of them.
“Instead representatives from the club signed a player on a contract which was not dated, then at a later stage amended the contract by writing over some of the characters and scribbling out others so that the IFA would think that the player was not being paid for 6 months when he in fact was.
“Not only does this potentially constitute a criminal offence but is a breath-taking breach of sporting integrity.
“The evidence presented by Portadown to the appeal lacked any real credibility. The club representatives said that they were unable to tell us who the mystery person was that had amended the contract and sought to deceive the IFA.”
The Appeals Committee concluded: “It is our view that by sending a redacted version of a player’s contract to the IFA, concealing that a player was being paid as a professional, Portadown deliberately sought to deceive the IFA.
Portadown’s second appeal, relating to fines not being paid in time, which led to the postponement of the opening league fixture, was also dismissed.
Interestingly, this Saturday’s fixture list pits Portadown against Coleraine.
The NIFL Premiership Fixtures Sub-Committee has “determined that the originally scheduled Danske Bank Premiership fixture between Portadown and Coleraine will remain at Shamrock Park on Saturday, 15 October 2016.
“The option to switch the fixture to Coleraine Showgrounds was dismissed in order to protect the sporting integrity of the league in terms of the number of home and away fixtures.”
However, the NIFL Premiership Management Committee will consider the impact on Coleraine FC of the postponement of the Coleraine v Portadown fixture on the opening day of the season at its next meeting.
