(03 Apr 2014, 9:31 pm)aureolin wrote There'll be hell on if a team is relegated by one point. Letter of the law says Sunderland should have been deducted that point.
I have seen clubs get hit with a points deduction for less, if it was say a Hartlepool or a Gateshead, would they have got away with a fine and slap on the wrist.
I think what has happened here is a genuine mistake, SAFC did not realise they needed int'l clearance to bring there own player back from Germany, they held there hands up admitted to it and are not going to appeal it...
If Sunderland stay up by 1 point(which I cannot see happening anyway), I cant see any appeal to relegate them working, look at the West Ham case in 2005/06 The Tevez/Mascherano Third-Party Ownership Scandal, them 2 were deemed ineligible for most of the season and Tevez pretty much kept them up on his own towards the end of the season at the expense of Sheffield United, despite calls for a points deduction, they got whacked with a £5m fine...