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Wales Online
Wales Online
Sport
Paul Abbandonato

Wigan face FA rap after Cardiff City triumph as Mark Hudson reveals game played with two different sized goals

Cardiff City's Championship triumph at Wigan will be at the centre of an FA probe after it was revealed different sized goalposts were used during the game.

Wigan face a potential FA rap over the issue at their DW Stadium home.

Cardiff caretaker boss Mark Hudson explained how two of his coaching staff spotted the crossbar Cardiff were defending in the first half was two inches taller than the one they were trying to score in at the other end.

According to FA rules, crossbars must be no higher than eight feet tall - but one of the goals exceeded that limit.

Read more: Bluebirds continue unbeaten run under Mark Hudson as Robinson, Ojo and Wintle score at Wigan

Hudson told referee James Bell of his concerns, but according to the Star he was informed it would take “two hours” to investigate the problem. The match went ahead with different-sized goals.

Hudson said: "Two of my coaching staff spotted the problem, which we tried to flag straight away.

"We were initially told we'd have to wait a couple of hours for it to sink another couple of inches, but no-one wanted that.

"We decided to continue with it, and it was the same for the two sides."

He smiled: "I did ask if we could just use the one goal for the whole game!”

Cardiff scored two second-half goals in the bigger net, with Ryan Wintle's effort near the end actually hitting the underside of the bar and going in.

Wigan boss Leam Richardson said: “It just summed our day up – if he’d had the free kick at the other end, it would have bounced off the crossbar and not into the goal.”

The game was delayed for seven minutes while the matter was investigated. The FA will demand answers from Wigan as to how this happened.

According to the Sun, the decision to go ahead with the game "came after match and club officials agreed to play as fans were already in the stadium."

The Bluebirds' triumph saw them rise into the Championship top 10, following on from an excellent home win over Blackburn four days earlier.

Rugby League side Wigan Warriors also play at the DW. The goalposts are dismantled by Wigan ground staff at the end of every game and then erected prior to the next match.

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