Leioa vs San Ignacio: Alignment Dispute & Match Challenge

San Ignacio faces a possible sporting and economic sanction for incurring an improper alignment. The Vitorians tied on Saturday (0-0) against Leioa on matchday 14 of the Third Division. However, at the conclusion of the match, the Biscayan team filed a complaint against the Disciplinary Judge after verifying that ‘Sani’ had used two players who were not included in the scoresheet. Adurza’s team could lose the point scored and the match could be resolved with victory for the Biscayans.

Sarriena hosted a high-profile match. San Ignacio and Leioa, separated by just one point, faced each other to see who could storm the promotion play-off spots. An equality that was later reflected in the result. However, the match did not end with the final whistle. The referee realized that two players who did not appear in the provided lineup had played. The club delegates are in charge of completing the player file.

“At the end of the match and when we go to introduce the substitutions, we realize that there have been two players who have participated in the match and that they are not among the San Ignacio substitutes,” reflects the arbitration report to which EL CORREO has had access. “Before the referee team went out to warm up, the delegates of both teams reviewed the lineup and the substitutes of both teams,” he adds. A check in which they did not warn about this error.

In fact, both footballers had a prominent role during the match. Julen Castillo entered the field in the 63rd minute to replace Iñaki Ormazabal. And Souhaib Balouk came on in place of Kevin Calle in the 82nd minute. Both substitutes appeared on the scoresheet with the signings of Joseba Elguren and Jaime García.

That is why Leioa, as confirmed to this newspaper, has requested “that we consider the match won. We understand that it is a human error, but the failure has occurred on two occasions. The regulations are clear,” they point out. The Judge has granted San Ignacio a deadline until Friday to present the pertinent allegations. “The delegate introduced the players correctly, it is an error in the system and that is how we will defend it,” the Vitorian club advances.