Waterford have lodged an appeal with the FAI regarding Monday's season-ending defeat away to Finn Harps. 

The Blues are unhappy with Harps' fielding of Shane McEleney in the 1-0 win for the Ballybofey side that secured their Premier Division safety.

Harps' 1-0 win saw them escape 9th place in the SSE Airtricity Premier Division, to be replaced by Shelbourne.

The defeat contributed to Waterford missing out on a potential place in next season's Europa League qualifiers.

Waterford FC can confirm that a complaint has been registered with the FAI regarding our Monday night fixture away to Finn Harps. The matter is with our legal team and no further statement will be made on the matter at this time.

— Waterford FC (@WaterfordFCie) November 12, 2020

The FAI allowed McEleney to play in Monday night's fixture, despite him picking up a fifth booking of the season during a 3-2 win over St. Patrick's Athletic on October 28.

The defender's suspension was due to begin on Monday, the night the final round of top flight fixtures ended up being played.

They'd been delayed by 24-hours to accommodate Shamrock Rovers' twice rearranged game with Derry City on Saturday, November 7.

An FAI spokesperson said of the decision, "The Disciplinary Committee of the FAI applied an ‘effective from’ date of Tuesday November 10 for suspensions to be imposed after the final series of Premier Division games in the SSE Airtricity League.

“This decision was taken in order to maintain the status quo in respect of the extraordinary circumstances caused by COVID-19 which resulted in the final round of Premier Division fixtures being rescheduled, as permitted by FAI rules.”

Waterford statement: 

Waterford FC can confirm that a complaint has been registered with the FAI regarding our Monday night fixture away to Finn Harps.

The matter is with our legal team and no further statement will be made on the matter at this time.

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