The process for dealing with Match Day Discipline is primarily a process that occurs between the Club and the County FA.
As a League we have limited visibility via our ‘League Statement’ in WGS, but we can see active suspensions and pending suspensions due in the next 7 days.
The NWYFL will only get involved if:
- A team becomes suspended (due to failing to meet the time frames specified for the payment of fines)
- A team continues to play a player while the player is suspended
Remember that the NWYFL Management Committee’s role is to manage the League and enforce the rules of the League that all Clubs have agreed. In both of the above scenarios there are specific League rules to be upheld:
SCORY:
10(E)(v) The Management Committee shall review any match that has taken place where either or both Teams were under a suspension imposed upon them by The FA or Affiliated Association. In each case the Team that was under suspension would be dealt with in the same manner as if they had participated with ineligible players in accordance with Rule 8(M)(i) above. Where both Teams were under suspension the match must be declared null and void and shall not be replayed.
Additional NWYFL Guidance:
10 (E) If a Club or team is suspended by their County FA during the season, their matches will not be postponed; the Management Committee shall award the points from the matches in question to the opponents until such time that the Club or team is no longer suspended.
SCORY:
8(M) (i) Subject to Rule 8(M)(ii), any Club found to have played an ineligible Player in a match or matches where points are awarded shall have the points gained from that match deducted from its record, up to a maximum of 12 points, and have levied upon it a fine (in accordance with the Fines Tariff).
(ii) The Management Committee may vary the sanction as relates to the deduction of points set out at Rule 8(M)(i) only in circumstances where the ineligibility is due to the failure to obtain an International Transfer Certificate or where the ineligibility is related to the Player’s status.
(iii) Where a Club is found to have played an ineligible player in accordance with Rule 8(M)(i) above, the Management Committee may also, at its discretion:
- Award the points available in the Competition Match in question to the opponents, subject to the Competition Match not being ordered to be replayed;
- Levy penalty points against the Club in default; or Order that such match or matches be replayed (on such terms as are decided by the Management Committee).
We have recently seen a number of teams either suspended or had suspensions pending, the root cause of this in a number of the cases is Clubs not administering all the required steps in the process.
To help Club’s avoid finding themselves in this situation I will try to describe the process and give tips to help you.
- If you are 1 the 10 Clubs in the League who have not get signed up for administering Discipline online in WGS then please contact the County FA and signup.
- If you have signed up then utilise WGS, it does give you great visibility of the process.
- Remember that the process within WGS is automated, if you miss a payment deadline then the system will automatically add a late payment fine. If you don’t pay all the fines, then you will automatically be suspended.
- Read the FA Discipline Handbook http://esports.flipboxapp.net/Discipline/
If one of your teams receives a card in a game at the weekend, WGS will send you an email notification once this has been added to your Club.
If you log into WGS and select the Discipline Tab you will see any unacknowledged cards.
Your first task should be to click on the players name so that you can check that their profile is up to date. Before a card can be processed the profile must contain a Date of Birth, Address and Postcode. You can update these details, if the players name needs correcting then you will need to contact the County FA to have this corrected, ideally the name should match the name in FULL-TIME.
If one of your teams receives a card in a game at the weekend, WGS will send you an email notification once this has been added to your Club.
If you log into WGS and select the Discipline Tab you will see any unacknowledged cards.
Your first task is to click on the players name so that you can check their profile is up to date. Before a card can be processed the profile must contain a Date of Birth, Address and Postcode. You can update these details, if the players name needs correcting then you will need to contact the County FA to have this corrected, ideally the name should match the player name in FULL-TIME.
Once the players profile is updated, you can return to the Discipline summary and click on the case number. You can now acknowledge the caution and download the charge notification, this can be access by pressing the ‘View match official report/letter’ button.
If you are dealing with a red card then you need to list the matches that the player will miss due to suspension.
Once the caution has been acknowledged, the next step is to pay the fine. If you plan to pay online by credit or debit card then this can be done from the Discipline summary page, or from the Invoice tab once the invoice has been generated.
If you plan to pay by bank transfer, cash, cheque or card over the phone the it’s best to wait until the system has generated the invoice so that you can then use the invoice number as the reference number. Invoices are generated on a Wednesday and WGS will send you an email when this is available in the system. If you pay by bank transfer, then make sure that you use the invoice number as a reference. Reconciliation of all non-online payments is a manual process, once you have made the payment periodically check WGS to make sure that the invoice is marked as paid. If it isn’t then discuss with the County FA to resolve the issue.
Because invoices are only generated weekly, the payment terms on the invoice will differ slightly to the respond dates, if in doubt always use the earlier date.
The bottom line is that it’s a Clubs responsibility to ensure that the process is completed fully.
WGS will give the League 7 days notice of an upcoming suspension of either a team or a player, so we will highlight to Club Secretaries any issues we see, but it’s your problem to resolve with the respective County FA.
If it is not resolved in the required time frame then we will have to take the necessary action to enforce the League rules.
