Liverpool fined £200,000 for fielding ineligible player in Carabao Cup match

The English Football League (EFL) has fined Liverpool FC £200,000 for fielding Pedro Chirivella during the club's third-round Carabao Cup victory against MK Dons. According to EFL, Chirivella wasn't eligible to be fielded. As a result, the football authority has penalised the club for playing him.

As per the EFL spokesperson, Chirivella didn't have an international clearance. Because of this, he shouldn't have been brought onto the pitch by his club. The 22-year old footballer came on as a substitute in a match that his side won 2-0.

When asked about the consequences of fielding an ineligible player, EFL said that it wasn't viable to expel the defending UEFA Champions League title holders from the competition just because of the incident.

In the meantime, the EFL also suspended half of the fine issued against Liverpool until the end of the next season. In that regard, the Reds will now be required to pay £100,000.

In reply to the penalty issued by the football authority, Liverpool appears to have fully accepted the punishment. According to their press release, the Reds accepted the judgement made by the EFL. They said that the mistake they've committed must be addressed by the EFL and they accept whatever the organisation has decided.

Last season, Chirivella spent several months Extremadura in Spain because of a loan spell. Upon his return, he was required to obtain international clearance from the Football Association.

As BBC reports, an EFL statement reads, "The club's breach was in part due to the challenges it encountered with securing the correct international clearance, and its subsequent ability to include the player on team sheets despite the lack of clearance."

Since the authority found the club to have violated its rules, the EFL board decided to penalise Liverpool in financial terms.

In 2014, Sunderland was also fined for the same reason. It was both the Premier League and EFL that levied a fine on them. It was because Sunderland fielded Ji Dong-won in 4 League games and one League Cup match.