A Dublin soccer team has been dismissed from a regional league after a member was accused of assaulting a Latvian player.
A spokesperson for the Leinster Football League has confirmed that Landen United were expelled until the end of the season. But the Ballyfermot team disagree with the decision and is expected this week to file an appeal to the Leinster Football Association.
Landen United manager Paul Corcoran told Metro Éireann his team “had nothing to do” with the incident.
Previously, D-Pils – a Leinster Football League team composed of mostly Latvian players – vowed to quit the league if it failed to discipline Landen United, whom the Latvian side accused of unacceptable behaviour.
After a match with Landen on 1 March in Dublin’s Phoenix Park, D-Pils captain Evgeny Baranovsky suffered a serious assault which left him with a badly bleeding lip and nose.
The Latvian captain accused a Landen player of head-butting him, and his team told the Leinster Football League it would drop out unless Landen United was disqualified.
After an investigation of the referee’s match report, the league decided to dismiss Landen United for the remainder of the season.
“I am satisfied,” said Baranovsky, who was informed of the league’s decision in writing. “I don’t have any more claims to the league and our team will continue playing until the end of the season.”
However, Baranovsky said D-Pils would not be willing to play with Landen United again. He maintained that the team would quit the Leinster Football League if the Ballyfermot side are reinstated following a successful appeal.
Leinster Football League president Tony O’Dowd declined to comment on the league’s decision to expel the Ballyfermot club, saying the case is still “sub judicae” pending appeal.
Landen United are one of the longest established clubs in the Leinster Football League and have won many of the league’s trophies.
The incident in Phoenix Park on 1 March has sparked outrage among immigrant players in the league, who have called on officials to stamp out rough play and xenophobic insults that sometimes occur on Irish pitches.
