Soccer: Redmen and Carabins forfeit ... gosh, lots of games

We've often seen teams forfeit a game or two here and there due to ineligible players, and now and then a whole season is wiped out.

Well, it's time for that second thing to happen again. Yesterday we learned that 17 RSEQ men's soccer games have been affected, including nearly every game for McGill.

Montreal and McGill, according to the RSEQ release, "inadvertently allowed the participation of a player who is 20 years of age or older (as of Aug. 16) and who participated in a professional soccer match without respecting the mandatory 365 day waiting period."

McGill must forfeit every game except their Sept. 9 game at Laval, which they lost anyway. Montreal used their player in seven games, one of which was against McGill, so that Sept. 20 result gets the classic CIS label of "0-0 double-forfeit."

As usual, the name of the player isn't being released, but also as usual, it's not too hard to narrow it down on our own. Only three players appeared in 11 games for McGill, two of which were not on last year's roster: Max Leblond and Olivier Lacoste-Lebuis. My knowledge of professional soccer is, shall we say, limited, so we'll just leave it there for now. For Montreal, three players appeared in seven games, and two appeared in non-forfeited games, leaving just Kenan Morina, a first-year goalkeeper from Switzerland. Morina, or someone with the same name and likeness, played a game last October for FC Saint-Imier. (And possibly more recent than that, but that game would be enough.)

Like with the Hardy Cockup three years ago, when Manitoba's use of an ineligible football player pushed Regina into the Canada West playoffs, this event has caused Concordia to move up to fourth place in the RSEQ standings and therefore into a playoff spot. At 5-6-1, the Stingers finish fourth in the smallest of margins, with Sherbrooke now fifth at 5-7-0. That would probably annoy the Vert et Or had they not used ... can you guess? ... an ineligible player themselves this year.

McGill, Montreal, and Sherbrooke, together with the University of Winnipeg, as well at St. F-X and UPEI make it six teams out of 45 in men's soccer who have forfeited games. Not to mention this has happened to two other Quebec schools this year, in football, at both Bishop's and Concordia.

I believe this makes OUA the only conference in 2012-13 to have a clean sheet with regards to eligibility ... so far, at least.
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