The Ballarat Football Netball League has confirmed an investigation is underway over the result of the under-17 seniors elimination final clash between Darley and North Ballarat.
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Darley Football Netball Club has lodged a complaint to the league about North Ballarat allegedly fielding a player who was not eligible to play finals due to a lack of games played throughout the year.
North Ballarat has been given until 5pm on Tuesday to respond to the allegation, with a league board meeting expected to be held this evening, set to determine which team advances to the first semi final to meet Redan on Sunday afternoon. North Ballarat won the match on Sunday by 17 points.
A league spokesperson said an investigation was ongoing.
"Darley has come across a player they believe has fallen one game short on qualification, they've put in an appeal to us to say this person was not eligible to play," the spokesperson said.
"We've gone through and looked at this and we also believe this to be the case. We've sent a notice to North Ballarat advising them of this. North Ballarat has until 5pm tonight (Tuesday) for a right of reply.
"We are working through this with AFL Victoria and we anticipate a decision by Wednesday morning."
Complicating matters is that North Ballarat is of the belief that an ineligible Darley player was also part of the team list. That player is understood to have sat on the bench throughout the game, but was on the team list presented.
The investigation comes on the eve of the BFNL Junior Medal count which will be held on Wednesday night.
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