LIVINGSTON have been ordered to replay their Irn-Bru Cup tie against Crusaders and have been given a hefty fine by the SPFL after they were found guilty of playing an ineligible player in the original meeting between the sides last month.
Alan Lithgow was due to serve a ban after he was dismissed against East Fife in a League 1 match on September 24 and despite the SFA advising on their weekly suspension list of September 29 that the defender was to miss two first-team matches immediately. Livingston believed that Lithgow was due to serve his suspension in league matches only.
He missed out on the League 1 win at Peterhead on October 1 but returned and played the full 90 minutes as Dave Hopkin's side won 2-1 against the Northern Irish champions at Seaview on Friday, October 7.
Livingston pled guilty to breach of the cup regulations and as well as having to replay the game they were fined £4000. The game has been rescheduled for next Tuesday, November 1 with a 7.45pm kick-off.
The winners will go on to meet Welsh side, The New Saints, in a quarter-final tie on Sunday, November 13 with the decision not to throw Livingston out of the competition a surprise to many.
There has been no mention of Lithgow being suspended for the re-arranged game which would be a further surprise as Peterhead defender Reece Donaldson was forced to sit out a League 1 match with Ayr United in 2014 in a game that was replayed after he had played in the original meeting whist banned.
SPFL Chief Executive Neil Doncaster said: “In the interests of sporting integrity and fairness to both sides, the game will be replayed.”
Livingston did not comment last night but the Crusaders manager Stephen Baxter was delighted at the decision even though it means a fixture pile-up for his side.
Baxter said: “I am really pleased that we are involved again however the decision has come at a difficult time for us as we have a number of injuries and are facing a run of midweek games.”
“To be honest I felt that before the decision was made that we could have done without replaying the game however we now have a carrot to go for.”
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