Sunderland set to escape points deduction over fielding ineligible player
• Further punishment over Ji Dong-won unlikely
• Steve Bruce: 'They should be in serious trouble'
Friday 4 April 2014 11.07 BST Last modified on Tuesday 3 June 2014 10.00 BST
Sunderland are unlikely to face any further punishment for the clerical error which led to them fielding an ineligible player in four Premier League games and a
Capital One Cup tie earlier this season.
The club have already received a six figure fine from the
Premier League for playing Ji Dong-won, mainly as a substitute, in league matches against Fulham, Southampton, Crystal Palace and Manchester United, as well as the League Cup victory against MK Dons when he lacked international clearance. In theory the case could have gone to an independent commission and Sunderland might have been deducted a point – or points – in addition to being thrown out of the Capital One Cup but there were significant mitigating factors.
Foremost among them was that Ji, a South Korea striker, was registered with the Premier League at the time and listed in Sunderland's 25 man squad. The 22-year-old had received international clearance when he joined the club in 2011 but the mistake was made after he returned from a loan spell in the Bundesliga with Augsburg.
A minor error in a form submitted to Fifa on his return from Germany meant that, contrary to Sunderland's understanding, Ji no longer had international clearance after all but the Premier League are confident the slip was unintentional. Moreover, once the problem in the paperwork was spotted last October,
Sunderland immediately admitted the mix-up to the Premier League. The ruling body then decided the case would be settled by its board rather than an independent commission and imposed a "significant" fine.
Due to fact that it revolved around a Fifa form which had not been filled in properly, the Premier League also decided that the punishment – news of which emerged only on Thursday night – would be kept discreet. Sunderland's rivals can hardly complain that Ji offered them much advantage; they collected only one point – at Southampton – from the games in which he was involved.
A club spokesperson said on Friday: "The issue of Ji Dong-won was explained in detail to (Friday's) Premier League shareholders meeting and no issues were raised by any club. Sunderland AFC confirmed that they had complied with all the procedures and the Premier League stated that the player was duly registered on the extranet system and in all other Premier League mechanisms.
"The club has never accepted any wrongdoing, but did acknowledge that a technical fault occurred and as such, were fined by the Premier League accordingly in December. The matter is now closed."
There is a reasonable possibility that a relegation rival could appeal against the Premier League's decision not to impose a points penalty. The Hull City manager,
Steve Bruce, said on Friday that his former side should be in "serious trouble".
"That's pretty bizarre stuff that it's only surfaced now and he's played in four games. They should be in serious trouble, I would have thought."
Asked if he would expect a club fielding an ineligible player to be handed a points deduction, Bruce said: "It's the first I have heard of it and it will be interesting, I would have thought so though."
Sunderland are 19th in the Premier League table, four points adrift of safety with eight games to play, while Bruce's Hull are eight points clear of them in 14th spot.
Cardiff City occupy 18th position and are one point ahead of Sunderland going into Saturday's home match with Crystal Palace.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was less concerned than Bruce that Sunderland's transgression should have resulted in a points deduction. "First of all they noticed, held their hands up and you have to admire that," the Cardiff manager said. "The FA have acted and we have to accept that. I did not expect points to be deducted. We accept the outcome. We have to trust them to make the right decision according to the rules. We have to go up there [The Stadium of Light] and take three points off them."
While there is a certain irony that Sunderland reached the Capital One Cup final, losing to Manchester City, Paolo Di Canio's then team were losing to MK Dons in the 49th minute when Ji was withdrawn. Without him Sunderland recorded a 4-2 win over the League One side.
MK Dons said in a statement: "The club sought clarification from the Football League regarding the allegations and the League confirmed that they only became aware of the situation in late November.
"The club acknowledges that the Football League board dealt with the situation as they saw fit and will not be pursuing the matter further."
