The Lion City Sailors have been awarded a 3-0 victory in their Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (ACL) Two Quarter-Final first-leg match against Sanfrecce Hiroshima, following a ruling by the AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Committee.
The Sailors had been handed a 6-1 drubbing in the first leg, but the result was overturned after the Japanese side fielded an ineligible player.
Hiroshima had utilised French forward Valere Germain, who was supposed to be serving a three-match suspension.
The Japanese club was also fined US$1,000 and will receive only half of the US$160,000 participation fee.
Germain had punched an opposing player during a match against Central Coast Mariners while playing for former team Macarthur FC (Australia) in February 2024.
Although he was not sent off at the time, he later received a three-match suspension from AFC competitions.
However, Macarthur did not enter any AFC competitions thereafter, and Germain had no opportunity to serve his suspension.
The sanction remained in effect until Germain transferred to Hiroshima, and it does appear that Hiroshima was oblivious to this fact.
The club stated through their website, “We are deeply sorry for the significant concern and inconvenience caused by our inadequate verification regarding the eligibility of players.
“We will strive to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future while cooperating with relevant parties.”
The Sailors will now head into the return leg at Jalan Besar Stadium on 12 March with an advantage, as they aim to become the first Singaporean club to reach the ACL Two semi-finals.
They just need to park the bus.
PHOTOS: AFC