AS the Limestone Coast Football Association pre-season cup semi-finals kick off tomorrow, Apollo senior co-coach Bruno Vadori has given his side of the player registration drama which saw the club miss out on A Grade finals.
The situation, which arose from Patrick Wilondja’s registration at two clubs at the same time, saw Apollo lose its round one cup win against Millicent, while Wilondja was also dealt an eight-match suspension.
Vadori said there was a few things which went wrong and led to the discrepancy being overlooked, which then resulted in Football Federation South Australia picking up on the problem.
A mix up with birth date and a change of email sparked the issue, as his new registration with Apollo did not clash with his original at International and allowed him to be registered twice.
“It is hard for some of these African boys and all our migrants who come over,” Vadori said.
“Their paperwork is not always 100pc when they come into the country.
“I have had problems with this before in juniors years ago.
“I was apparently playing an older boy in a grade and his brother ended up being younger and could have played in the grade below.
“The paperwork and all that is pretty hard for these guys.”
Vadori said it is an issue which has been seen for many years, not just in the LCFA, but this time the consequences were greater.
“Unfortunately the paperwork did not line up and he (Wilondja) was registered a second time,” he said.
“When you fill in your birth date you have the two columns – your month and day – that was mixed up as well and he used a new email address.
“It did not (raise a warning) because the birth date and email were different.”
Wilondja has taken full responsibility for the situation according to Vadori, but the co-coach believes his player’s punishment was too harsh.
“To my understanding the penalty was anywhere from four to 10 weeks,” Vadori said.
“He was given eight weeks as his penalty.
“It is obviously between the guidelines, but I thought it was a bit too harsh.
“I was thinking probably four weeks, that is a fairly big chunk.
“With eight weeks you miss half a season.
“That can hurt not only that player, but the team, both on the park and mentally as well.”
However, Vadori said the club is eager to put it behind them and looks positively on the season ahead.
“We would like to still be in contention for the cup, but it is what it is,” he said.
“All the guys are really positive with where we are at the moment and our mindset is really good.
“He (Wilondja) really wants to be down at Webb Street at the moment and all the boys have rallied around him.
“It has probably put a bit of fire in his belly for the second half of the season.”
While the club missed out on the senior semi-finals, Apollo will be represented in all other grades.
