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Central Coast Mariners have been rocked by the news Football Australia have blocked the possibility of new signing Jason Cummings playing in Saturday's FFA Cup Final against Melbourne Victory.
The Mariners will again be pushing to finish in the top six of the A-League this season but first up they have the chance of silverware in the FFA Cup after making the final for the very first time.
Central Coast were hoping that new striker Cummings would be able to play his part after scoring on debut at the weekend but have been told he was not registered in time.
Under the rules clubs cannot use players signed after the semi-final stage and the Mariners may have shot themselves in the foot.
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The Mariners played their semi 11 days before Victory played theirs and say they did all they could to help the FA by playing their game as soon as possible.
Had it been delayed Cummings would have signed before the semi and would have been eligible for the final. So being cooperative has gone against them.
Mariners CEO Shaun Mielekamp says they are "very disappointed" with Football Australia and have been disadvantaged after trying to do the right thing.
Mielekamp said: "Both semi-finals should have been played at the same time, with our semi-final being 11 days before the second semi-final our club has clearly been disadvantaged.
"It is our view that all clubs should have the same registration windows and clearly, this year that is not the case. Our club's cooperation with the FFA by playing the first semi-final early as scheduled has in the end, hurt us.
"Had both semi-finals been played at the time of the second semi-final, Jason would be playing this weekend."
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