Tribunal to investigate whether Villa Women field an 'ineligible player' in the Conti Cup

The FA has referred Aston Villa's use of an ineligible player in a Conti Cup match to an independent tribunal.

The case of the WSL side's alleged breach of match rules was passed to Sports Resolutions UK this evening as part of the FA investigation.

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It follows Villa's 7-0 win over Sunderland in the Continental Tires Cup group stage on Wednesday evening.

Former Arsenal defender Noelle Maritz, who joined the club on a transfer from the Gunners this month, made an appearance as a substitute in the second half.

The Swiss international also played for North London in another League Cup group stage earlier this season.

Maritz was included in the line-up for Jonas Eidevall's team when they beat Tottenham 4–3 on penalties in December.

Their victory after a 3-3 draw in regular time in a group stage.

However, the competition rules prohibit players from competing for more than one team in the competition within the same period.

On Thursday evening, football's governing body announced they were investigating the matter following the alleged offence.

A written statement on the FA website said: “We can confirm that we are investigating an alleged breach of Cup Rule 8.19 by Aston Villa during their FA Continental Tires League Cup match against Sunderland on Wednesday 24 January.

“In accordance with competition rules, this matter has been referred to Sports Resolutions UK for hearing by an independent tribunal. Further updates will be confirmed in due course.”

Rule 8.19 states: “no player may play for more than one club in the cup competition in a playing season”.

In a similar case in 2014, Reading were dropped from the Women's League Cup that year.

The Royals included Bonnie Horwood in one of their matches, despite the midfielder making three appearances for Watford earlier in the season's fixture

Villa's defeat to Sunderland meant the Midlands team had hypothetically reached the quarter-finals of the Conti Cup after finishing top of Group A.

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However, the WSL team will now have to wait for the outcome of the independent tribunal hearing.

And Sunderland must also wait to find out whether they will get a backdated win – and become one of the best-finishing runners-up in the match – after Villa's rule breach.

The team, which is second in the Women's Championship, faces