Ballymena United have confirmed that Josh Carson's "high-profile" case has been resolved. The midfielder was initially shown a yellow card for a challenge on Linfield's Ethan McGee on the opening day of the season last August which was later upgraded to a red.
Carson - who admitted he "got away" with only a booking - was hit with a retrospective three-game ban which the Sky Blues appealed, and six months later the dispute has finally been resolved.
The Showgrounds club were represented by Jamie Bryson and secretary Phil Lewis at the hearing against a decision made by the Irish FA’s Disciplinary Committee.
Ballymena United said in a statement: "Ballymena United are delighted to have won their appeal in the high-profile Josh Carson case, resulting in his three-game suspension being overturned.
"We would like to extend our sincere thanks to Jamie Bryson from JWB Consultancy for his expert representation throughout the appeal process.
"From the outset, we firmly believed that this matter had been appropriately addressed in the referee’s report at the time, and we are pleased that justice has now prevailed."
The Appeals Board said ‘the misconduct complained of had already been dealt with in the match official's report', a point which was highlighted by Mr Bryson.
It stated: “In relation to the fourth ground - the referral under Article 34 was invalid – the Appeal Board is of the opinion that Article 34 of the Disciplinary Code is only to be used where, as the title of the Article clearly sets out, there has been misconduct which has come to the attention of the Committee other than (our emphasis added) by means of a match official's report.
"In this instance, the misconduct complained of had already been dealt with in the match official's report. The player had been cautioned during the match for the tackle he made. We do not have VAR in Northern Ireland and we do not want to encourage an unofficial system of such. Article 1.9 of the Disciplinary Code sets out what the Committee shall have the power to do once matters properly come before it. In this case, the complaint was not properly before the Committee.”
Irish FA Senior Refereeing Manager Andrew Davey reportedly emailed the Disciplinary Manager at the Irish FA about the tackle, referring the matter under Article 34.4 of the IFA's Disciplinary Code. A Notice of Complaint was issued against Carson, sanctioning him with a three-match ban.
The Appeals Board statement said: “The Appeal Board finds that Mr Davey did have authority to make the complaint, if it had been a valid complaint to make, which on this occasion we say it was not.”
The Board concluded: “Therefore, in accordance with Article 14(6)(b) of the IFA's Articles of Association, the Board upholds this appeal by setting aside the decision appealed against and quashes the penalty imposed of a three match suspension with immediate effect.”
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