Caley Thistle are waiting to discover whether they will be reinstated to this season’s Scottish Cup at the expense of Queen’s Park.
The Glasgow club, who are currently top of the Championship, beat Inverness 2-0 at the Caledonian Stadium on Tuesday night in the rearranged fourth-round tie.
However, reports suggested their fielded an ineligible player and they are now battling to stay in the competition in order to face Premiership opponents Livingston on February 11.
Henderson started against Inverness
The match in Inverness had been postponed 10 days previously and, since then, Queen’s signed forward Euan Henderson on loan from Hearts.
The 22-year-old played almost 70 minutes before being replaced by Scott Williamson, whose goal added to the second-half opener from Dom Thomas.
Scottish Cup tie vs Inverness Caledonian Thistle https://t.co/i7S79axUHM
— Queen's Park FC (@queensparkfc) February 1, 2023
Competition rule 12.5 states that players not signed for the first match cannot feature in the rescheduled fixture.
Owen Coyle’s side have issued the following statement: “Queen’s Park Football Club would advise that they are in discussions with the Scottish Football Association regarding the eligibility of a player in last night’s Scottish Cup tie at Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
“An internal review to establish the facts will be carried out and the club will be making no further comment until this is done.”
Decision expected before Friday
Brechin City were booted of of the Scottish Cup in 2008 when they fielded two players in a replay who were not signed up for the original match.
If action is taken against Queen’s Park in relation to article 12.5, then it will come in the form of a Notice of Complaint from the compliance officer.
From there, the outcome would be decided by a judicial panel at a hearing which would be arranged. A decision is expected within the next 24 hours or so.
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