The Central Coast Mariners have today received notification of the outcome of the club’s request to have Jason Cummings and Patrick Beach included onto the 25-man playing roster for the FFA Cup final.
The club can unfortunately confirm that the decision has been made to reject Cumming’s registration for the final and therefore will not be permitted to be on the roster for this Saturday’s blockbuster clash.
20-year-old Goalkeeper Patrick Beach has been approved to join the roster.
The club is very disappointed with the decision from the FFA not to apply the regulation allowing players to be registered under the provision of “exceptional circumstances” that resulted from the uneven scheduling of the two semi-finals and the COVID impacts faced on the roster by the club.
Mariners CEO Shaun Mielekamp made the following statement regarding the decision.
“This is a very disappointing decision made by Football Australia that in our opinion has robbed the final of being the best possible spectacle that it can be and has prevented us from fielding our strongest side. All football fans want to see the best players play every match and we are disappointed that this will not be the case on Saturday.
“It’s important that all members know the club did everything possible to ensure that Jason was able to play.
“The club firmly stands by our position that this FFA Cup competition, which has been heavily rescheduled and impacted by COVID-19, should have been enough to cause consideration as an “exceptional circumstance” for the clubs playing rosters,” said Mielekamp
“Both semi-finals should have been played at the same time, with our semi-final being 11 days before the second semi-final our club has clearly been disadvantaged. It is our view that all Clubs should have the same registration windows and clearly, this year that is not the case.
“Our club’s co-operation with the FFA by playing the first semi-final early as scheduled has in the end, hurt us. Had both semi-finals been played at the time of the second semi-final, Jason would be playing this weekend.
“I can only implore all Central Coast Mariners fans to make the journey to Melbourne and join in on the pre & post-match events, plus of course cheer the boys on as loud as they can so they know they have the whole Central Coast right behind them despite the adversities we have faced so far. If our fans are unable to make the interstate journey, they can attend our Viewing Party at Central Coast Stadium where in association with JC Entertainment we have set up a big screen for our fans to enjoy the final and cheer on our boys from the comfort of the Central Coast,“ Mielekamp said.
