Ontario University Athletics announced last week that the York University Lions men’s soccer team used ineligible players in their first two games of the 2003 season.
As a result of this OUA rules violation, the team was forced to forfeit their first two regular season games. This violation stems from last year’s OUA playoffs.
On Nov. 2, 2002 in the OUA bronze medal game versus Brock University, York goalkeeper Robert Colangelo and midfielder Paul Curcio each received red cards in the match.
As a result of receiving the red cards, both Colangelo and Curcio were automatically suspended for the first game of the 2003 season. However, both players competed in the opening games of the season against Nipissing University and Laurentian University.
Nipissing and Laurentian will now be credited with wins versus York, with the scores in the records showing as 1-0 losses for the Lions. All other statistics from such contests will remain valid, except for those of the ineligible players.
OUA program and communications coordinator Claire Baillie was contacted regarding the issue, and she responded that “York was clearly wrong in its violations of the rules, and that the issue was raised to the OUA by the coaches from Nipissing and Laurentian.”
She also added that “the issue has been dealt with, and that no further review was being pushed forward at the moment, and that the CIS would not be looking into the matter, because it was a violation of the OUA rules and not the CIS rules.”
York now finds itself in a huge hole in the OUA soccer season sitting in last place in the men’s soccer north division. U of T leads the division with a 3-0 record. The two players, having not served their one game suspensions, were forced to sit out the game between York and U of T that took place Sunday.
