Carmarthen Town deducted three points for failing to fulfill fixture
Carmarthen, Wales 6/12/19. Carmarthen Town v Ammanford Town at Richmond Park in the JD Welsh Cup 3rd Round on the 6th December 2019. Lewis Mitchell/YCPD.
Carmarthen Town have been deducted three points for their failure to fulfill their fixture with Risca United.
The Old Gold has been fined £1,000 with half of that suspended and has been ordered to pay £300 compensation to Risca to compensate their travel costs.
The match, due to take place on Saturday 31 July 2021, was postponed at the eleventh hour, due to a positive case in the Carmarthen camp of a non-playing staff member.
On further examination, the National Leagues Board, responsible for overseeing the Cymru Leagues, decided that Carmarthen had enough players to play the fixture.
Clubs must have less than 13 first-team players available for their to be a reason for the game to be called off.
A statement released by the Football Association of Wales read: “Following the postponed JD Cymru South match between Carmarthen Town and Risca United on Saturday 31 July 2021, the FAW’s National Leagues Board (NLB) met on Tuesday 10 August 2021 and have deducted the Club 3 points for their failure to fulfill the fixture.
“Carmarthen Town’s request for a postponement failed to satisfy the criteria outlined in the ‘Positive COVID-19 Test Policy for National Leagues’ as approved by the National Leagues Board in conjunction with medical advice.
“The Policy protects the integrity of the competition, whilst still taking into account reasonable measures to protect Clubs and its players from COVID-19.”
In response to the points deduction, the club issued a statement saying: “Carmarthen Town AFC are disappointed with the decision of the FAW with regards to the points deduction due to the First Team’s inability to fulfill the JD Cymru South fixture on Saturday 31st of July against Risca United.
“It was established on the morning of the match that the dressing rooms had been occupied by a staff member who began to show symptoms of Covid-19.
“It was considered, given the time allowed, that there would be insufficient time to disinfect all the rooms to a level that could guarantee the safety of all personnel. It was too much to ask a small group of volunteers to take such responsibility at short notice.”
“We hope that such circumstances will not arise again and if that was to happen a similar decision may well be taken. Losing points is not as important as risking the health of playing staff and volunteers.”
Carmarthen – managed by Sean Cresser – have yet to win a game since their relegation to the Cymru Premier.
Their latest match was a 0-0 draw with Taffs Well at Richmond Park. Their next game is against Llanelli Town at Stebonheath Park on August 20.
