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Federation sides with Ordizia against Burgos for improper line-up

Burgos played with fewer players than required, leading the Disciplinary Committee to forfeit the match, giving Ordizia a chance to continue in the title race.

Rugby ball on grass, with stadium lights blurred in the background.
IA

Rugby ball on grass, with stadium lights blurred in the background.

Ampo Ordizia keeps its league title hopes alive. The Goierri club reported Burgos for an improper line-up, and the Federation has ruled in their favor.

Ampo Ordizia may still be in contention for the league title. The Goierri-based club filed a complaint against Burgos with the Spanish Federation for fielding an ineligible player after their quarter-final match on May 10th. The match, the sole fixture of the quarter-final tie, ended in a narrow 17-13 defeat for Ordizia. The Disciplinary Committee has now ruled in favor of the Gipuzkoa entity, penalizing Burgos with a loss of the match. This decision, in principle, would allow Ordizia to advance to the semi-finals. Suso Romero's team was scheduled to play the semi-final this Sunday in Alcobendas, but Burgos has appealed the decision, and the match will not proceed until a final resolution is reached.
Following the quarter-final match, the Gipuzkoa club decided to report Burgos for fielding an ineligible player. They discovered that the match report, signed by delegates and referees, indicated that the Castilian team had only fielded twelve Category A players, whereas regulations require a minimum of thirteen. Apparently, Burgos's infraction was not a mere oversight; the team had been previously notified by the Federation that one of their Category A players was being reclassified as Category C, a notification that Burgos allegedly ignored.
A Category A player is broadly defined as someone who, up to the age of 21, has held a license for at least three consecutive seasons or four alternate seasons with an autonomous federation or a club integrated into the Spanish Federation. Ordizia also alleged that the official match report had been altered, but the club was able to provide screenshots of the original document.
The Disciplinary Committee revealed that the notification regarding the player's reclassification occurred on April 20th, but Burgos did not submit any documentation to reinstate the player's Category A status until May 11th, the day after the match against Ordizia. The Federation confirmed that, "as stated by Ordizia RE in its complaint," its rival "failed to meet" the minimum requirement of Category A players (13) in this match. Subsequently, the platform managing the match reports entered the player in question "retroactively" as a Category A player, for reasons unknown to the Federation, suggesting a possible IT error.
The Disciplinary Committee concluded that there is "no doubt that on the day of the match against Ordizia, the player held Category C status." Burgos is not being sanctioned for late documentation or for fielding the player, but for failing to meet the minimum quota of Category A players. The Federation will not sanction or fine the Burgos delegate. As Burgos has appealed the decision, the semi-final will be postponed until a final resolution is reached, expected this week.

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