Thursday, April 23, 2009

IHA response to Mossley registration query

The IHA released the following statement this morning in response to a query from Mossley over the registration of Vaughan Erasmus (pictured against Monkstown) for the Irish Senior Cup quarter-final between the two sides.


"The matter was investigated by the IHA and it was discovered that while he was registered appropriately with both the IHA and Leinster Branch in 2008, under the strict interpretation of the rules Vaughan Erasmus was not eligible to play for Pembroke Wanderers in Irish Competitions as he had not played for his club prior to December 31st 2008.

"The intention was for Vaughan Erasmus to play for Pembroke before December 31st 2008 however due to visa delays, he did not arrive in the country until January 2009.

"Vaughan Erasmus was played as a substitute in the match against Mossley but has not played since that date for Pembroke Wanderers in any Irish Competition.

"The Management Board at its meeting on 17th April 2009 discussed the matter in detail and ruled as follows:
- The playing of Vaughan Erasmus was deemed to have been an unintentional and genuine error;
- This decision by Pembroke Wanderers H.C. to play Vaughan Erasmus was in part due to a miscommunication with Clubs by the IHA around player eligibility;
- Vaughan Erasmus is not eligible to play for Pembroke Wanderers in any Irish Competition for the remainder of the current season.
- A full review of the Regulations regarding Registration and Eligibility of players for Irish Competitions will be undertaken before next season."

104 comments:

Anonymous said...

as for the third paragraph, I 'intended' to play for Pembroke this season before christmas but didn't get round to it, can I play a game for them?

very flimsy use of words there...

Anonymous said...

Soooooooooooo, just to clarify...

They broke the rules and aren't being punished, yeah??

Anonymous said...

They should play him in the Irish Senior Cup final for the laugh!!!!!

Anonymous said...

this is ridiculous. any smaller club would have had the result reversed...pathetic

Anonymous said...

What a joke!!! Rules should be rules which are adhered to. There have been problems in the past with registrations so you would think clubs would be careful, especially bringing in players mid-season.
However I can see why they would take this "cop out" decision as what would the solution be - to replay all matches in that part of the draw from Pembroke v Mossley on with only a few days to the final!

Anonymous said...

so ther is no punishment what to stop any other club doing this in future years? iha can never punish this then, because if they do the club in question will ask why can pembroke do it and not us. therefore no point in having rules. is an absolute farce of an organisation.

Bango said...

so the rule is that you don't play before Janaury in your domestic league you're not eligible for IHA competitions.

that they 'intended' to play him is irrelevant and circumstantial evidence. I intended to win the lotto but it never happened...

from this, I take it we can glean that the IHA said it was alright for him to play when it clearly wasn't which is ridiculous.

I assume this is the reason they were not thrown out while fingal were for for a registration issue, should be open and shut case

Anonymous said...

Cheer up Bango...IT COULD BE YOU!!!!!

Anonymous said...

not wholly pembroke's fault by this statement. they asked if he could play and they were told he could.

can't understand why this is only dredged up now.

Anonymous said...

A sensible decision by the IHA .As for 1.45 ask The LB fixtures Committee why it was dredged up now --they are good at "dredging" .. the difference is that the IHA have taken a pragmatic approach to a procedural error --the Rules need to be totally recast at Branch and IHA level to make them understandable and therefore enforceable .

Anonymous said...

Glad to see that common sense has prevailed. Would be a shame if the top side in Ireland at the moment missed out on a chance to play EHL next year over a genuine mistake/ trivial error by themselves and the IHA.

Rather have Pembroke in their than Mossley. It's not like Erasmus has been banging them in either.

Anonymous said...

From reading the statement the IHA has taken some of the responsibility on this issue and stated that it was their fault with a miscommunication which led to the player playing in the game. It also states that Pembroke saw this then and haven't played the player in any Irish cup or IHL games since. seems like the right outcome was reached seeing as the IHA made a mistake in the first place.

Anonymous said...

This decision is a disgrace. What matters is what you do and not what you intend. The simple fact is that the rules were broken. I believe that if another club played an illegal player in the ISC they would have been thrown out of the competition.

Anonymous said...

Basically its just to clarify that the kid cant play again for Pembroke this season. Thats the punishment.

Anonymous said...

2.10 i think you're missing the point...what you wrote was semi-intelligent if we were talking about which team was better. well done

Anonymous said...

I wonder how "common sense has prevailed ".This player arrived on the scene in Leinster on 14th.Feb.2009 and played a senior match which was a qualifier for IHA /IHL competitions.He was NOT registered properly to play in LB competitions.He is an Sth.African international,LB rules clearly state what a club is required to do in that situation.Pembroke for what ever reason did not comply ,IHA were informed
,took no action and left situation fester.
there has to be an immediate and full inquiry into behaviour of IHA.Who gave Pembroke permission for Erasmus to play and under what rules.
The IHA statement raises more questions than it answers.How come this player was given permission to play and Alan Lewis wasnt??. Fingal were thrown out for a simple error.Why should Pembroke not be treated the same.
Heads MUST role over this fiasco.

Anonymous said...

It doesn't matter that he was a sub or didn't play again this season in ISC. In fact he didn't need to step on the pitch. Once he was named on the team sheet it was enough. According to IHA rules he was definitely ineligible to play ISC - full stop. The rest of the stuff from the IHA is just spin.

Anonymous said...

In my opinion it is irrelevant whether the player came on as a substitute, plays any more games or has or has not been “banging” in the goals. The only releveant line in this is regarding the “miscommunication with Clubs by the IHA around player eligibility”. If at any point the IHA communicated to Pembrooke that it was ok for them to play the player, or any player for that matter, after the 1st of January 2009 (and it is not clear in this statement if this is the case) then it is the IHA who is at fault and Pembrooke should not be punished. However, if it states in the rules that if a player has not played for his club prior to December 31st 2008 then he cannot play in Irish competitions, and Pembrooke played the player with out having clarified it with the IHA, then Pembrooke should certainly be thrown out of the competition without argument, rules are rules.

Does anyone know if either of these situations was actually the case as the statement from the IHA is not at all clear?

Anonymous said...

Correct decision should be Mossley v Glens.S/F ISC played on Sat.25th.April Final 26th.April.
Fun and games now when clubs realise that Erasmus played in LB Senior league,qualifying competitiom for IHL,same rules apply according to IHA Rules and regulations for season 2008-9.
What a mess,how many IHA blazers will go over this,dont hold your breath.

Anonymous said...

Rules are made to be implemented and enforced. They can't be used selectively. Mossley should have played ISC semi at home to Glens. This is a shocking error by IHA.

Anonymous said...

I don't see where in the statement it says that Pembroke asked the IHA specifically about Erasmus. Although I left the earlier comment that the ruling is a joke I would agree that if they did specifically ask the IHA about Erasmus and gave all the details as to his arrival date, etc it is not Pembroke's fault and therefore they should not be punished - although the IHA would have a lot of questions to answer. However if that is not the case and they did not specifically clear the Erasmus position with the IHA prior to his playing the decision released today is still a complete joke and I would be more than a little annoyed if I was a Mossley player or fan.

Anonymous said...

I think this ruling will probably break your all time record for comments left on the blog.

Anonymous said...

sounds like quite a balls up from the iha. from the sounds of it (i'm working on limited info but no more than all the other bloggers who claim to know all the facts), pembroke can't be disqualified as there was a 'miscommunication with clubs', all clubs not just pembroke it seems and i'm sure pembroke would be in a strong position to appeal any action taken against them. what is a shame is that this has put a cloud over the upcoming final for fielding a player in what was a comfortable victory anyway.

Stephen Findlater said...

While I appreciate there is limited information on the site on this particular case, I have spoken to a number of involved parties and there does not seem to be a consensus on what actually happened. As a result, I refrained from posting a full story.

Anonymous said...

As a senior club sec I can state for a fact that we did not receive any miscommunications from the IHA in relation to player registration for the ISC. I think that the IHA spin is based on IHL registration rules which can be changed in December and ISC registrations which cannot be changed.

Anonymous said...

"it's ok officer...i intended to learn how to drive my car properly, i'm sorry i knocked somebody down honestly i'll never do it again ..."

that its pembroke shouldn't matter. if they made a mistake they made a mistake, live by the rules and let's keep the game honest.

bending over backwards for the biggest club in ireland is a bit much.

granted pembroke v. cookstown will be a hell of match, but pembroke broke the rules - tough luck.

two fiascos this year with the IHA and their rules - for the IHL Annadale/Cookstown thing, and now this.

is there any chance we can actually get somebody decent appointed to look after the rules?!

Anonymous said...

3.43 the result isn't in question. it doesn't actually matter who won. pembroke fielded an unregistered player and should be punished like any other side would be

Anonymous said...

Ignorance of the rules or the margin of victory in a game is no defence. A player is legal or illegal. Rules are or should be black and white & trying to put a spin on things most certainly does not help.

Anonymous said...

4.03 i completely agree, if they are responsible then they should be punished for it. i was only trying to say that from a hockey perspective it is a pity it will cast a shadow over the final when the result would not have been affected. but i still thinki t remains unclear who is responsible

Anonymous said...

clearly the IHA are taking responsibility with this issue as they state that they miscommunicated with the club about the registration of the player.Erasmus was registered for all competitions with the club from October and eligible to play from then,a mix up with visas meant that he didnt arrive to Ireland until January. The club then allowed him to play in this match as under IHAs guidelines and regulations once the player was registered,as he was done in october,he is allowed to play.

Anonymous said...

with reference to 4.24 where does it say they miscommunicated about this player. It says there was miscommunication about registrations but not specifically about this player. Or does 4.24 know for a fact there was communication about this specific player?

Anonymous said...

This really is the culmination of "annus horribilis" for the IHA. First the Annadale/Cookstown IHL fiasco, then the Under-age boys coaches fiasco, then this!

Anonymous said...

There is obviously a lot more to this particular issue than the IHA are letting on otherwise Pembroke would have been thrown out of the competition,WITHOUT DOUBT.IHA made a mistake,if they hadn't,then Pembroke would be out,simple as

Anonymous said...

I believe Pembroke should be allowed through, the rules of hockey suggest that they should, for example:

If it hits a player's foot and no one is around him they gain no advantage from the foot and so aren't penalised.

If Pembroke hammer Mossley and a player who isn't in their best 16 a player who if he hadn't played they would have brought in someone pretty much as good, they gain little to no advantage of him playing and would have easily gone through anyway.

Anonymous said...

4.24's comment is complete nonsense, the statement does not say the IHA "miscommunicated with the club about the registration of the player". What it says is quite different, the statement reads "due to a miscommunication with Clubs by the IHA around player eligibility," which does not refer to Pembrooke or the player in question. If what is stated by 3.51 then is true, and there was no communication or miscommunication to clubs regarding player eligibility, then the IHA has created a terrible mess.

Also can people stop commenting on the result of the game betweem Mossely and Pembrooke as it is totally irrelevant, what is relevant is the disastrous precedent that is being set here.

Anonymous said...

What were the IHA supposed to do? Throw Pembroke out of the ISC 3 days before the final? They only played him once and they won 6-0, I'm sure they would have won without him. Common sense defnately prevailed there. Nobody likes to win on a technicality.

P.s. To April 23, 2009 2:34 PM,
That's not a punishment, that's just a clarification of the rules.

Anonymous said...

As a show of good faith & in an effort to amend for the error of their ways, Pembroke have drafted in Jamie Dwyer to play for Cookstown in the final...

Anonymous said...

Well, surely Mossley can go legal on this, especially if they have a really good case??

Anonymous said...

5.09 - rubbish.
Erasmus was key to three Pembroke goals. cant say that that is not an influence on the result.

Anonymous said...

Also,

What a great punishment....Play a player who really hasn't made a major impact since coming to Ireland..

Not like he is being mentioned for scoring amazing goals like Watkins/ Sothern or making an impact on a team like Fulton did, or yer man Cronje in Corinthians.....

Anonymous said...

De nooijer is apparntly coming to play for cookstown on sunday just for one game and let on as if it was a mistake. true bill..

Anonymous said...

It is now time that the Ulster Branch stoof up for one of it's own clubs. Mossley have been cheated out of a place in the Irish Senior Cup semi-final and there is absolutely no way that Pembroke can now be allowed to take part in the final on Sunday! Since full time employees have entered the IHA, we seem to be having one balls-up after another. If it were a company heads would roll!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Why was this issue not dealt with before now ? The IHA have known about this for some time - Did they just hope it would go away ?
What did the Competitions committee do about this when they were made aware of the problem ??
Looks like nothing - and not for the 1st time !! Thats were the 'Heads should roll ' - Yet again the IHA are shown to be an organisation that make the rules up as they go along ! even when the rules are in place !

Anonymous said...

Now that the winners of the ISC are going to the EHL, there is alot at stake here! Glenanne are the real losers in this. They would have beaten Mossley in the semifinal barring a miracle and should beat a rather poor Cookstown also.

The IHA must realise that running a club is a business and there are large sums of money at stake for the clubs concerned. It is now a wee hobby anylonger and so the legalities of rules must and should be adhered to!

Anonymous said...

The whole thing is a mess, actually the dicision making in the IHA is the mess.
I joined Glennane before any ISC matches were played. I contacted the IHA personally before i left Monkstown to see what the situation was with the ISC and if i was eligable to play. I was told by an IHA employee that i WAS able to play in the ISC as i hadnt played in the competition yet.
Once i had joined Glenanne they went to register me and they were told that actually no i wasnt allowed play. It took a few weeks for them to reply to an appeal etc... All i was told was that if your not registered before the 31st of DEC you cant play. It was to stop teams bringing in players as they progressed in the tournament.

And so now we have no punishment now for playing when not eligable, I should have just played anyway!!

Seems to be different rules for different clubs!!!

Alan Lewis

Anonymous said...

Fair play Alan, nearly 50 comments and we get our first name - other than that Bango character...

Anonymous said...

can Mossley appeal or take any further action, its a complete farce the way certain clubs get away with such "mistakes" and other clubs get thrown out of competitions

Anonymous said...

RE:"Fair play Alan, nearly 50 comments and we get our first name - other than that Bango character..."

notice you didnt leave a name either

Anonymous said...

5.41 bit ironic? There is simply no argument about scores and claiming they obviously would have got through that is so irrelevent. Why bother having rules or a cup if weaker teams are not even given the best opportunity to advance. That statement is ridiculous from the IHA, seems they had a hand is the mix up and that they would have a guilty conscience about throwing them out. Does anyone have the full details of the communication between the IHA and pembroke about the registration of the player or whether there was any. Alan Lewis could have played a vital role in that semi but they stuck by the rules and they seem to be the only ones losing out. Now that is injustice.

Anonymous said...

Some bloggers may not be aware of IHA rules re Player eligibility for IHA competitions.

Competitions involved.:
IHL
All IHA Cups.ISC,IHT,IHC,IJC.
Provincial qualifying leagues for IHL(Premier,Division1 leagues)

Stage1
To compete in Irish competitions all players must register with their club and IHA link by 15th.Ost.2008 except IHL, which must be registered by 6th.Oct.2008.A player must be a bona fide regular playing member of the club and playing their hockey in Ireland.
Erasmus clearly not eligible under this Stage.

Stage 2
15th.Oct.-31st.Dec.2008.
Any player wishing to join,or transfer to,a club must seek permission in writing from IHA;such a player must ,if approved,play for the club concerned before 31st.Dec.2008.
Again as above Erasmus not eligible.

Stage 3
No player may join ,or transfer to, a club playing in IHA competition after 31st.Dec.2008.Any player not complying with these conditions and wishing to play after 31st.Dec.2008 must apply in writing to IHA.
As per IHA statement this did not happen.
These rules ALSO apply to LB Div1 games ,and IJC.
Erasmus has played in these competitions and as such appears to be illegal for these competitions.

Under LB Rules(88),it states :in case of players who do not regularly represent their club by reason of being registered with another Branch or Hockey Assoc.,such players shall not be included in the team registrations but will be notified separately to the LB Hon.Reg Sec.together with their bons fide team standard in their club.Such players shall then be eligible to play only for that eleven or a higher
eleven.
Erasmus being a current Sth.African international should only be registered as an extra player on Pembrokes firsts(as Phelie MaGuire is for TRR).
That is of course if Pembroke complied with above LB rule,some large doubt over this.
All of above available from LB and IHA.

as stated by others upholding rules re registration is VITAL to the integrity and well being of Irish Hockey.What a tragedy for the young player involved,for Pembroke,and for all involved with the game in Ireland.

Anonymous said...

2:34 I think that it is you that is missing the point.

There was a miscomunication between IHA and Pembroke.

It would be a joke to disqualify Pembroke for an IHA mistake.

You clearly want heads to roll...I sugest you relax and think about what happened. We don't want the IHA/ Branches being ridiculously anal. Sure we need rules but we need common sense more.

Anonymous said...

6.07 - where are these rules documented ? All I see at the rules under Competitions on IHA webpage are:
"3 Clubs shall register their eleven regular 1st XI players, including
the goalkeeper, on IHA link by 29th October 2008. No player may play
in the competition for more than one club in the same season (cup
tied).

4 Each member of each competing team shall be a bona fide member of
the Club, i.e. registered with the Branch in the current season or a
full playing member in the preceding season."

Anonymous said...

6.07 and others--read the full rules --there is a separate set of rules for the ISC in addition to the ones you quote -- this is the reason why the rules need to be totally recast--the rules as constructed are not enforceable --if Pembroke were kicked out of the ISC they would have an equally strong case -- a little knowledge is a dangerous thing --lots of comments being made without knowing the full facts --we need to set out new rules that apply consistently across all competitions prior to 09/10 season--both IHA and Leinster /Ulster/Munster competition rules need to be harmonised , communicated and then enforced

Anonymous said...

With Alan Lewis giving an example of himself not being allowed to play - there seems to be only one solution. get Pembroke out! any other result is unfair given that if Erasmus was allowed to play, Lewis should have been allowed to play against Pembroke and might well have altered the result. i'm not saying i rate you though alan;-)

Anonymous said...

If it was such a genuine and honest mistake by Pembroke why then did they put him on the team sheet for the Glenanne seim-final, only to have him asked to leave the field by the TD who recognised he was ilegible?

Anonymous said...

Common sence comes into the writing of rules, not the implementation of rules as they are in black and white. It is unfortunate and tragic that Pembroke broke the rules, but unfortunately they did, and should be disqualified.

Anonymous said...

Re" Player eligibility for IHA competitions"
These regulations for 2008-9 were circulated by IHA to each Branch/club at beginning of season.
LB rules are available on LB web site.

It has been stated time and time again it is a clubs responsibility to ensure players are registered as per rules of Branch and IHA.

Anonymous said...

6.40, While i agree that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, it appears that a little knowledge is all that anyone seems to have about this, me included. The fact of the matter is that somebody has to be made accountible and if Pembrooke play in the final, which i have no doubt that they will,then teams in future ISC matches will always have an argument if they are caught fielding illegal players. No matter what ruling is made, Saturday's final is now a complete farce and the real losers are the players from all clubs concerned!

Anonymous said...

Anyone else spot the "Galway races tent" similarity here?

Anonymous said...

It's a disgrace!! Mossley should be back in! Why make rules when there not implemented!

Anonymous said...

SUGGESTION TO ALL BLOGGERS

1/Go to http://www.hockey.ie/competitions/irish_cups.cfm for rules regarding ISC eligibility

2/then go to the IHL sub site and look for rules regarding eligibility for IHA competitions --which also make reference to the ISC

3/read both side by side

4/then when you have made sense of all of that come back with more informed comments

But then that would not be as interesting as uninformed and hysterical comments !!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Some have asked when IHA were made aware of this. I believeit was around the time of the semi-final...therefore they should have made this decision too late...deliberatley me thinks as it is too late to do anyhting about it now!
Mossley Fan

Anonymous said...

basically we should be having a mossely/glens game on saturday and then the final on sunday as normal..

only seems fair!

Anonymous said...

wow an awful lot of anger over a sport... obviously all negative comments are from non-pembroke players who want a chance to win - their solution? kick pembroke out.. Its a game people calm down!

Anonymous said...

6.43,Vaughn was NOT in the squad for the Glens semi final game,get your facts right,he was never down to play in that game let alone on the team sheet given into the TDs.

Alan Lewis, If you checked you would see that the player was in fact registered with Pembroke from October and supposed to begin playing with the club at that date but visa complications meant he didnt arrive until Jan.Your arguement as such is a non-runner,you argue that you should have played anyway because you registered after Dec 31st like Vaughn,but in fact he was registered in October,so that is why the club thought he could be played.

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately, 7.15 I don't needto go to the sites and read the rules.
I have read the Management board statment and it confirms that Pembroke broke the rules by playing an ineligible player. Consequently, the only possible option for the board was to disqualify Pembroke. By not disqualifing them they have created a dangerous precedence that will come back to haunt them.
They may as well have torn up the rule book.

Anonymous said...

wow...its seems to me to be a bunch of amatuers trying to be professional and failing miserably.

They have royaly F..ked up this one. I feel sorry for those Pembroke players who are preparing for a final with this rubbish going on.

A formal apology might be due from the IHA and a few of them might need to question their ability to do their jobs ..

Stephen - it would be good for this to be sent to IHA as they probably dont even read the impact of their decisions !!

Anonymous said...

rules are rules. all teams should be dealt with the same. everyone knows including the IHA that this one wont

Anonymous said...

The IHA made the mistake in the first place with the miscommunication to the clubs,So to throw Pembroke out would be nonsense

Anonymous said...

The playing of Vaughan Erasmus was deemed to have been an unintentional and genuine error

So effectively if a club says we didnt understand the rules .. yet EVERY other club in the country did they get away with it.

A complete sham

Anonymous said...

Pembroke registered the player before 31st December,which according to the IHA meant he could play for them in all national competitions,the IHA confirmed this,then when they looked back on it they realised the player hadn't been playing even though he was fully registered,therefore they said it was ok to play the player,so pembroke did.IHA's mistake,not pembrokes.

lets not all jump on the "punish pembroke" bandwagon,stop for a second,look at the full picture and facts,then make a decision

Anonymous said...

Didn't Erasmus play in the IJC semi-final against YMCA as well? Was he eligible for that?

Anonymous said...

No he didnt play in the IJC.

Anonymous said...

IHA made a mistake. YES. However, Pembroke can read the rules the same way everyone else can and have to accept the fact that they also made a mistake.

If you don't kick Permbroke out for making a genuine and unintentional mistake, how can an umpire yellow card a player for making a mistimed, and unintentional stick tackle which stops a goal from being scored??

Whats the difference???


THe player may not have meant to stick tackle!!!

Stephen Cuddy said...

Hope this things not cancelled as i've just got slim to embroider our tops with Cookstown v Pembroke 26 April 2009.

Slim whats the chances of getting a Glenanne/Mossley Patch to go over it?

Anonymous said...

Re 11.10 I think if the IHA confirmed that they told Pembroke it was OK to play Erasmus then rveryone on this site would agree it was not Pembroke's fault and the correct decision was made. However the IHA have not stated that they told Pembroke that Erasmus could play.

Anonymous said...

Stephen - at 3.38 yesterday I said you would get more comments on this than any other article. Is that the case? If not it must be getting close to it!

Anonymous said...

interesting article about this in todays Times regarding the same example for Belfast YMCA a few years back .. ruling that they should be kicked out !.

Euricles said...

Rules are like the law, they keep order in a regulated way so that everybody knows where they stand. Once you start excusing one team and not another, even if there was an administrative mistake by the IHA, the whole institution of the competition melts down.

It is well known by anybody minutely versed in the law that ignorance is not an excuse. And so it should be with rules in a competition like this. I don't really care who is in the final - I'm just a fan of hockey in general (for the men's game), so I just think that the two teams that deserve to be in the final both on playing-merit, and yes, an ability to follow the rules on and off the pitch, should be playing on Sunday.

Anonymous said...

The Irish Times article for those who want it:

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2009/0424/1224245296055.html

Anonymous said...

The IHA are in tatter over this seasons competitions. They are getting budgets slashed left right and centre by the sports councils and irish government. The two main ways of generating their own income through sponsorship etc of their two main competitions has now been shattered due to the incompetence of those running the competitons and the ultimate accountability of it CEO and other paid emplyees. Who in their right mind is going to Sponsor the ISC or the IHL now after the farcical scenes during this year. What annoys me more than anything is that the people running the game have NO respect or regard for the clubs. They dont seem to be able to see the impact of decisions which they feel are very minor or ' genuine mistakes' in the bigger picture. Can we all keep in mind that any decision taken in the MAIN qualification routes to IHL / EHL can make the difference to a club financially and personel wise. EHL qualification has the potential to allow clubs to seek good sponsorship opportunities and also attract foreign players perhaps even as full time pros.A simple wrong decision which is perhaps deemed unimportant or trivial by the powers that be EVEN at LEAGUE level can now affect whether a team gets 2 or 3 home matches in the IHL therefore potentially lose out on 4-5k of revenue from one match. How long before clubs with a bit of financial clout go to the courts to make someone accountable for their losses????

Anonymous said...

I think there is a simple way to make some people realise why others are getting so uptight about some of these decisions. If anyone is prepared to do it can they publish approximate figures of the benefits ( or not!! ) financially of qualification for the IHL or even better EHL this year. Then the decision makers may realise the impact that some of their decisions have.

Our clubs expenditure at IHL this year was around 2K and we made just over 5k on dinners, gate receipts, pitch hire and bar etc over our 3 home games. This does not sound like a massive amount but a 3k profit is still better than the money the IHL can get to sponsor any competition!!!

Anonymous said...

im a young player in division 1 and am getting very frustrated with all the back ground registration bull****
every one who is not involved in the pembroke case stay out of it and worrie about playing hockey and enjoying it.
the rules need to be changed and thats it, pembroke deserve to be in the final they are a good side.
go and support the match and enjoy it for what it is!

annoyed player*

Anonymous said...

to annoyed player* player, Im sure Mossley players are frustrated with lack of player registration by pembroke. its nothing to do with pembroke deserving to be in the final, fact is if the broke any rules then they should have to face the same consequences as if they were any other club

Anonymous said...

8.38
There is more to this than the IHA have let on,they did in fact inform pembroke that the player could play when pembroke enquired about it.If they hadn't,then pembroke would have been kicked out of the competition.It wouldnt make sense for the IHA to just simply allow pembroke to stay in the competition had they broken the rules and had it been all down to the club and nothing to do with the IHA,would it?

Anonymous said...

NOTE TO ALL; see www.hockey.ie for the latest statement from the IHA.

Now that thats sorted,lets look forward to the final,its gonna be a cracker of a game!

Anonymous said...

I believe the decision of the IHA
not to disqualify Pembroke will not stand up to legal scrutiny. Both Mossley and Glenanne have a case, and Cookstown will have if the final goes ahead. As was pointed out, ignorance of the rules is not a defence. Have Pembroke got written approval from the IHA that the player was eligible to play?

Anonymous said...

Unfortunatly the IHA are incompedent. It takes them months to decide on issues because they dont know whose makes the calls. Try contacting the person in charge of registrations? it takes approx a week to get him!! Poorly run organisation, with no leadership and no one who will stand up and make the tough calls (or the easy ones mind you!!)

Anonymous said...

I agree with comment earlier that Steve you should send this blog to the IHA so they can see how real hockey people think.

Actually everyone should send them a copy. We should all copy and paste all the comments and send them to the IHA. That would make them take notice.

Who is with me???

Anonymous said...

it'd be interesting to see everyone leaving their names to these posts,i'm sure a lot of the names would be from a certain couple of clubs

P

Anonymous said...

Did Three Rock not get thrown out of the Irish Junior Cup for a similar mistake this year?

Anonymous said...

Three Rock were throqwn out last year of the junior with Fingal out this year.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps this is the decision that the IHA should have released:

The Irish Hockey Association has received a number of complaints to the effect that the IHA had exhibited an unecessary level of involvment in the organisation of, and operation of the game of hockey on the island of Ireland. The IHA have carried out a thorough investigation into these allegations and have issued the following statement.

The IHA does not accept that it has any responsibility for the running of hockey in Ireland. The suggestion that the IHA should be responsible for such matters is spurious and mischievous and deeply insulting to the Association and its staff.

The investigation found that there may have been one occassion when the Association may have given the impression that what happens in Irish Hockey is of concern to them. This was a genuine mistake. The Association have taken steps to ensure that such an impression will never be given again.

The Management Board concluded that, "It is,and always has been,the intention of the IHA to studiously avoid the acceptance of any level of responsibilty for anything to do with Irish Hockey. We have been very successful in this regard and we would like to reassure the Irish Hockey family that this continues to be our aim."

Anonymous said...

What Pembroke did was wrong and they got no punishment for it.This needs to b looked at.Come on the 100 comments lads!

Anonymous said...

I would imagine Glenanne are going mad. This could cost them a EHL spot. Other sports would laugh if they knew how the IHA is ran.

Anonymous said...

from what I grasp from this situation is that pembroke are saying that they asked the branch and they said it was ok to field the player. if this is indeed the case the branch needs to confirm this and in this situation it would be unfair to punish pembroke.
However the if this is not the case rules are rules and they should be followed

Anonymous said...

Well said 7.10,96 comments later and finally someone is making sense.This needs to be clarified.

Anonymous said...

If they were told they could play Erasmus then if they knew this was alight PLEASE PLEASE ONE OF THE 100'S tell me why Pembroke did not play him in an subsequent round if there was 'no wrong doing' and if all is forgiven and no punishment surely he is allowed to then to line up on sunday ... ?

Anonymous said...

Alot of People saying Pembroke have a tainted EHL place now...

They still have to play the Ulster Champions on Sunday.

Anonymous said...

who says pembroke have a tainted EHL place?nobody has presumed anything,certainly the pembroke team haven't,theres one big hurdle in the way in the form of cookstown,a superbly talented team that can offer just as much as pem.

7.57,Erasmus didnt play in the subsequent round because he was injured,not because of any other reason

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

9.54,its idiots like you that make this sport a small minded spiteful one,your comment was unneccesary,if you can't deal with the fact that erasmus was in fact injured you have no need to comment.He injured himself on SA duty against Germany in Feb,as a result has only played in 4 or 5 games for pembroke.

Anonymous said...

Well done Euricles April 24, 10.09a.m.---but do you know what an excuse is?--it is the skin of a lie stuffed with a reason--but the IHU haven't given the reason why Pembroke was excused.

Anonymous said...

yeh,that IHU,always making mistakes,come on IHU,what kind of orgainisation are you,IHU.IHU