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Sunderland may face a deduction of three points for playing ineligible player Ji Dong Won after Cardiff City, Norwich City and Fulham have formed an alliance with a purpose to fight against the Premier League.
On Saturday, Fulham and Cardiff ended their Premier League survival hopes after defeats against Stoke City and Newcastle United respectively. Sunderland, on the other hand, caused a 1-0 upset against Manchester United keeping themselves in the hunt for relegation battle against Norwich, who have tough fixtures ahead to secure their place out of the relegation spot.
However, there may be a possible twist in the tale after Sunderland fielded Ji Dong-won in four league games, which has encouraged the relegation trio to fight a legal battle against the Premier League’s decision of fining Sunderland and have sent an official letter asking them to deduct points from their total.
Ji played in four fixtures against Southampton, Fulham, Crystal Palace and Manchester United. Sunderland drew against Southampton while lost the three other fixtures.
The lawyers of the appealing clubs have demanded explanation mainly over the leniency shown by the Premier League body over the 1-1 scoreline against The Saints and have pointed out that manager, Gus Poyet, himself claimed that his club should have been awarded the victory when Ji played at the St. Mary’s in August.
Poyet said, “I’m not saying we should have been docked points, but I would understand if we had. It’s incredible. The rules should be clear. It should be one rule. The words ‘may’ or ‘might’ in the rules in England, they are unbelievable. They give you a chance to do whatever you like. It shouldn’t be may or might. It should be the rule. Yes or no. Then there is no grey area.”
Rule 6.9 in the Football Association’s relevant statutes says that “any club found to have played an ineligible player in a match shall have any points gained from that match deducted from its record”. Also “the board … may also levy penalty points against the club in default.”
