The women’s teams of Barcelona Femeni and Sevilla have officially been kicked out of the Coppa de la Reina tournament. This came after the Competition Committee upheld complaints by Osasuna and Villarreal over the use of illegal female players.
Barcelona smashed Osasuna by 9-0 as a visitor in the Round of 16, but it appeared the team had fielded Geyse da Silva Ferreira, who had to serve a suspension following her red card in the match versus Madrid CFF in the previous edition of the tournament. The Brazilian even scored one of the goals for Barcelona Femeni, but they will suffer an official loss due to her illegal participation in the match. Thus, the Catalan women will not be able to defend their trophy from last season. They will still appeal this decision.
Sevilla won by 1-0 in their visit to Villarreal. However, the team, like Barcelona, played with an irregular player – Nagore Calderon, who last year was sent off with a straight red card and had to serve her punishment in the match in question. So they will also take a loss of office. The Andalusian club expressed their regret for “the human error that led to this decision” and announced that they will not contest it.
