BG Tampines Rovers could benefit from possible Cong An Ha Noi gaffe in AFC Champions League Two
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A brace from Cong An Ha Noi captain Nguyen Quang Hai (left) sank BG Tampines Rovers in the first leg of their AFC Champions League Two round-of-16 tie.
PHOTO: BG TAMPINES ROVERS
- The Straits Times has learnt that Cong An Ha Noi may face penalties for fielding ineligible players Stefan Mauk and Rogerio Santos in their 4-0 win against BG Tampines Rovers.
- If found guilty, Ha Noi's first-leg result could be annulled, awarding Tampines a 3-0 win, potentially reviving their ACL2 campaign.
- Last season, the Lion City Sailors also benefited after Sanfrecce Hiroshima were found to have fielded an ineligible player.
AI generated
SINGAPORE – For the second consecutive AFC Champions League Two (ACL2) campaign, a Singapore Premier League (SPL) side could benefit from an administrative gaffe by their opponents.
BG Tampines Rovers, Singapore’s sole remaining representative in Asia’s second-tier club competition, were soundly beaten 4-0 by Vietnam’s Cong An Ha Noi in the round-of-16 first leg at the Hang Day Stadium on Feb 11.
But the Stags could yet get a chance to revive their continental campaign.
The Straits Times has learnt that the Vietnamese side could be penalised for fielding two ineligible players in the first leg.
Checks by ST show that their Australian midfielder Stefan Mauk and Brazilian winger Rogerio Santos – who scored in the 4-0 victory – were supposed to be serving a one-match ban for accumulating three yellow cards in the group stage of the competition.
Under Article 59.1.1 of ACL2 regulations, if a participating player or a participating official receives a caution in three separate matches in the competition, the relevant individual is automatically suspended from the next match in the competition.
Match reports on the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) website show that both players received their third yellow card of the tournament in their last group game, a 1-0 loss to Hong Kong’s Tai Po FC on Dec 11.
Mauk was also booked in their 2-1 defeat by Australia’s Macarthur FC and a 2-2 draw with Beijing FC of China, while Santos received yellow cards in their 2-1 win over Beijing and 3-0 win over Tai Po.
According to AFC’s rules, if a club are found guilty of fielding an ineligible player, this could lead to the match result being annulled and the opponents awarded a 3-0 win.
The second leg will be played at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Feb 18.
ST has reached out to AFC. While Tampines declined comment when contacted, ST understands that the club have reached out to AFC on the matter.
In the 2024-25 ACL2 campaign, Sanfrecce Hiroshima had their quarter-final, first-leg win over Lion City Sailors overturned after the AFC deemed the Japanese club to have fielded a suspended player.
The J.League outfit secured a 6-1 victory over the SPL side in Hiroshima in the first leg but forfeited that match for fielding Valere Germain, who should have been serving a three-match ban.
On March 12, 2025, the Sailors held 10-man Sanfrecce to a 1-1 draw in their quarter-final second leg at the Jalan Besar Stadium and progressed to the last four with a 4-1 aggregate victory.
The Sailors went on to reach the final, where they lost to Sharjah FC of the United Arab Emirates.
The latest, possible reprieve for the Stags comes amid a turbulent period for the club.
Tampines announced on Feb 14 that they have parted ways with 45-year-old head coach Noh Rahman after a string of poor results on the regional stage.
The Stags made the announcement on social media hours ahead of their 2-1 SPL win over Albirex Niigata at Our Tampines Hub.
Assistant coach Robert Eziakor has taken over in the interim, and the club are expected to reveal their new head coach at a later date.
Under Noh, the club enjoyed a stellar ACL2 group-stage campaign.
Notching five wins and a draw, the Stags emerged as winners of Group H, which featured former Asian champions Pohang Steelers of South Korea, Thai side BG Pathum United and the Philippines’ Kaya-Iloilo.
