Anderlecht have urged Uefa not to disqualify Dinamo Zagreb’s youth team after the Croatian club mistakenly fielded an ineligible player for the final seven minutes of their Uefa Youth League match.
Dinamo’s youngsters appeared to have secured a quarter-final against Barcelona by beating Anderlecht 2-0 – only for it to emerge after the game that Matije Fintica, a substitute brought on in the closing stages, was actually suspended.
Uefa subsequently launched an investigation into the case – which may result in Dinamo being disqualified and Anderlecht being handed their place.
However, Jean Kindermans, Anderlecht’s youth director, told local media: “We do not want to take their place. They beat us fairly on the pitch, and we don’t want to benefit from an appeal, especially as the suspended player had no influence on the outcome. We hope we are not asked to take part in the quarter-final.”
Dinamo also urged the governing body not to penalise their young players for what was an administrative mistake, saying in a statement: “After Dinamo’s young players won against Anderlecht the Uefa delegate discovered the mistake made by Dinamo administration. Anderlecht decided not to appeal because the better team won and that is the point of sport, but despite that Uefa decided to open the case against Dinamo anyway.
“We are ready to face a financial or any other kind of punishment – but we hope and believe that Uefa will recognise true values and will allow our brilliant youngsters, who proved their value on the pitch, to play in the quarter-final.”
Uefa, who are set to rule on Monday 29 February, are also investigating the bizarre incident in Chelsea’s game against Valencia in the same competition, when officials failed to notice a Valencia youngster’s shootout penalty had crossed the line.
In 2014, Legia Warsaw fielded a suspended player in a Champions League qualifier second leg at Celtic and Uefa turned the 2-0 win into a 3-0 defeat, which made the aggregate score 4-4. The Scottish club advanced to the play-offs on away goals, despite having originally lost the tie 6-1 on aggregate.
