Queen’s Park face being thrown out of the Scottish Cup after being charged by the Scottish FA over fielding an ineligible player in Tuesday’s Scottish Cup win over Inverness.
Forward Euan Henderson started the rearranged 2-0 fourth round win in the Highlands but only joined on loan from Hearts six days after the original clash was postponed on January 21.
And Scottish FA rules state that only those registered before the initial date are eligible to play.
The Scottish FA have raised a notice of complaint over an alleged breach of rule 303: Eligibility — clubs shall observe the terms of Competition Rule 12 (Specifically 12.5).
The hearing will take place on Friday at Hampden and Owen Coyle’s side are now in danger of being thrown out of the competition.
Clubs face a mandatory ejection from the cup or financial penalties if found guilty of such breaches but going by similar incidents in the past it appears that the Championship leaders face a fight to keep their place in the cup.
Expulsion would see Inverness being reinstated in the competition ahead of a trip to Livingston in the fifth round next weekend.
Brechin City were thrown out of the cup in 2008 after fielding two ineligible players - Michael Paton and Willie Dyer - in a fourth round replay victory over Hamilton.
A Queen’s Park statement released yesterday read: “Queen's Park Football Club would advise that they are in discussions with the Scottish Football Association regarding the eligibility of a player in last night's Scottish Cup tie at Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
“An internal review to establish the facts will be carried out and the club will be making no further comment until this is done.”
