Barbados kicked out of World Cup qualifying by FIFA
Published:Tuesday | June 30, 2015 | 12:34 PM
Barbados has been kicked out of the 2018 World Cup qualifying tournament, football's governing body FIFA announced yesterday.
Aruba has been given a reprieve and will now advance to the next round of CONCACAF qualifying after Barbados was found guilty of fielding an ineligible player.
Hadan Holligan, who should have served a one-match ban on June 14 for receiving yellow cards in two previous games, played for Barbados in their second-leg match against Aruba.
Holligan was the lone scorer and FIFA says the victory must now be forfeited.
Aruba has now been awarded a 3-0 victory in the match, giving them a 3-2 aggregate win and qualification at Barbados' expense, a FIFA statement said.
FIFA has also ordered the Barbados Football Association to pay a fine of US$6,470.
"The sanction will have immediate effect and as a consequence Aruba will now qualify for the next round," FIFA said in a statement.
Aruba advance to the 12-team third round of CONCACAF qualifying, which is to be played between August 31 and September 8.
The draw is carded for July 25 in Russia and the winners will advance to a fourth-round group stage where the highest-ranked CONCACAF nations enter.
Barbados become the first ineligible player case of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.
In the 2014 qualifying programme, FIFA ordered nine African matches defaulted because of ineligible players.