USOC: NY Pancyprian Suspension Overturned; Replay w/ Newtown on 4/21

Days after the New York Pancyprian Freedoms had their 1-0 win over Newtown SC (Conn.) vacated due to an ineligible player, the USASA ruled on Friday that the game will be replayed on Apr. 21 at 3pm at Newtown High School.

According to TheCup.us, Andreas Chronis, a Feedoms player who was suspended for verbal and physical abuse during a Dec. 9 Cosmopolitan Soccer League contest, was not eligible to play in the Apr. 7 contest, but nevertheless played.  Chronis’ suspension was set ot expire on Aug. 31, 2013, but there was a question over whether that suspension applied to U.S. Open Cup play.

George Halkidis, the general manager of the Freedoms, was told by the League that the suspension did not apply to Cup games, and so the team played Chronis, unaware that the League was incorrect in its ruling.

When it it was later discovered that Chronis was not actually eligible for the game, the USASA decided that the 1-0 New York win was to be vacated, and that Newtown SC was to advance to the USASA Region 1 semifinal round of the Open Cup tournament.

However, New York appealed the decision, and successfully convinced the USASA to overturn its decision. Prior to the appeal, Newtown SC was set to play Mass Premier Soccer on Apr. 21 in the Region 1 semifinal.