By Mark Heenan
THE Western Region Football League (WRFL) has suspended the Central Altona Football Club from its Division Two competition for attempting to re-register a player.
Central Altona player Sam El Houli was found guilty on four different charges relating to behaviour towards umpires in round four against Glenorden this year.
El Houli’s original a 38-week suspension was later reduced to eight matches.
“They told us Sam could play after he served the eight-week suspension,” Central Altona Football Club president Dwayne Piercy said.
“We had done everything to support that and Sam feels really bad that his club can’t play for the rest of the season.”
WRFL president Ian Hamm said Central Altona had informed the league it had delisted El Houli from its playing list.
He said the ban was also due to a variety of on-field violence and abuse issues, and for re-registering banned players.
“The club had informed the WRFL they had got rid of the players off their list, including Sam El Houli,” Mr Hamm said.
“And that was enough to tip us over and suspend the club for the remainder of the season.”
The WRFL also suspended Brunswick Power for its Division Two game against Braybrook last weekend after the club was found guilty of playing unregistered players.
The WRFL executive was expected to met last night (Monday) to determine whether the ban was to continue.
In a statement, the WRFL said it viewed the safety and respect of the umpires and players as “absolute paramount”.
“It is imperative that clubs ensure that their players, officials and supporters respect the umpires,” the league said.
Teams scheduled to play the suspended teams are to receive four points and be credited the for and against score recorded by the team with the greatest winning margin in Division Two for that particular round.
