We’ll ignore the glitz and glamor of Manchester United’s 2-0 win at Roma in the Champions League quarterfinals earlier today in favor of some confusion in the Coca Cola Championship that Chris Webber would surely identify with. From When Saturday Comes :
Having won only one of their last seven games, Stoke were denied three points at Hillsborough on Saturday when Franck Songo’o’s 20-yard shot equalised for Sheffield Wednesday in the 81st minute. Unfortunately Songo’o (above) was one of six loan players on the Wednesday teamsheet when only five are allowed. While the 1-1 draw knocked Stoke off the top and took Wednesday to within one point of safety with two games in hand, there has yet to be official judgment on the disregarding of the loanee regulations
Understandably, seeing a hard-earned point against a team at the top then put in jeopardy by an administrative mistake has made Wednesday fans angry as well as apprehensive. On the other hand, stirrings from Stoke about an unprecedented two-point award seem to be more out of hope than any real conviction. The football club have declined to comment until the issue has been considered by the League.
The authorities are looking into the matter today. There is some precedent “ Leeds were fined £2,000 in December 2006 for exactly the same breach. In that case, however, Leeds had lost their match, 2-1 to Burnley, whereas on Saturday one of the players in question made a decisive contribution towards his team’s point. If that should make a difference and Wednesday go down by a point, it could go into the record books as the most costly cock-up yet made by a club official.