Lion City Sailors awarded 3 0 first leg quarter final win over Sanfrecce Hiroshima in Asian Champions League 2

SINGAPORE – From a near-impossible mission of clawing back a five-goal deficit, the Lion City Sailors will now have a three-goal advantage heading into the second-leg, quarter-final match against Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the Asian Champions League (ACL) Two.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) disciplinary and ethics committee confirmed on March 8 the J1 League side had fielded an ineligible player in their 6-1 first-leg win at the Edion Peace Wing Hiroshima stadium on March 5.

In a statement on its website, the Asian football governing body noted that Sanfrecce had fielded Valere Germain “in the match even though he was suspended”.

The French forward, who came on as a substitute in the 69th minute and scored their fifth goal five minutes later, was supposed to be serving a three-match ban.

As a result, the match will be forfeited and Singapore Premier League leaders Sailors will be awarded a 3-0 victory instead. The second leg will be played at the Jalan Besar Stadium on March 12.

In addition, the Japanese team have been fined US$1,000 (S$1,330) and will not receive half of their US$160,000 quarter-final participation fee.

The Sailors declined comment and told The Sunday Times that coach Aleksandar Rankovic and skipper Hariss Harun would speak at the pre-match press conference on March 11 instead.

Sanfrecce said in a statement on March 8: “We deeply apologise for the concern and inconvenience caused to everyone by our insufficient investigation into this incident, which resulted in a suspended player being allowed to compete. We will make efforts to prevent a recurrence of such an incident in the future, and will work closely with all parties involved.”

Germain joined Sanfrecce from Australia’s Macarthur FC on Feb 27, 2024 but had incurred a suspension and a US$1,000 fine after getting involved in a post-match fracas