The Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF) has been banned from competing in the next round of Under 17 Men’s World Cup qualifying after being found to have fielded a second over age player.

Young Maxwell Keana played in five matches during the OFC U16 Championship in September last year, despite having turned 20 almost two months earlier.

Formal charges had been made against the Solomon Islands Football Federation and Keana by the OFC Disciplinary and Ethics Committee after it received a written complaint, supported by information that the player was born in 1998.

Tournament regulations required players to have been born on or after 1st January 2002.

The passport he used to enter the OFC competition listed his date of birth as 1st July, 2002.

The sanctions come 10 months after OFC Disciplinary and Ethics Committee found another member of the Solomon Islands Under 16 team, Chris Satu, had been born prior to 1 January, 2002.

Solomon Islands, who finished second at the Oceania Championship, subsequently failed to win a game at the World Cup, where they represented Oceania alongside New Zealand.

The Solomon Islands Football Federation has been fined $NZ10,000 and barred from entering a team in the next OFC Men’s Under 17 World Cup qualifying tournament, which is due to take place next year. 

 

Source: https://www.rnz.co.nz/