Wrexham Handed Significant Punishment for Fielding Two Ineligible Players

Wrexham have been fined £75,000 ($100,000), of which £25,000 ($33,000) is suspended, after fielding two ineligible players earlier this season.

The English Football League (EFL) found the club guilty of two breaches of its player eligibility rules involving summer signings Issa Kaboré and Callum O’Hare. Wrexham sources insist both incidents resulted from administrative errors and had nothing to do with the coaching staff or newly appointed sporting director Steve Nickson.

A club source also reiterated that Wrexham have taken the matter seriously and plan to appoint a new club secretary to prevent further punishments. An official statement read: “The Club is taking the appropriate steps to prevent such issues occurring in the future.”

Why Have Wrexham Received $100,000 Fine?

Issa Kaboré

Wrexham were found guilty of fielding Kaboré in their 2–1 home defeat to Birmingham City without having properly submitted his work-permit documentation to the EFL. Although he held all the necessary documents following his permanent transfer from Manchester City, they had not been officially registered with the league.

The EFL’s official report determined that final approval of Kaboré’s transfer was confirmed on matchday and that his player registration documents had been received before the midday deadline the day before the match. However, while his registration was approved, he was not eligible to play until his right-to-work documentation had been provided. It had not been submitted.

The report also stated that Wrexham submitted their official team sheet 52 seconds after the deadline. Clubs are required to submit their team sheets 75 minutes before kickoff, meaning the deadline for the 8 p.m. BST match was 6:45 p.m.

According to the report, Wrexham received an error message when submitting the team sheet that should have alerted them to Kaboré’s ineligibility. The club’s head of football operations claimed they closed and refreshed the app, supposedly causing the error message to disappear. However, the EFL found that the head of football operations had the app open for only 52 seconds and had not closed or reopened the session to refresh it.

The EFL therefore concluded that the error message had remained visible and that Wrexham should have known Kaboré was ineligible to play. The defender came on as a substitute in the 71st minute of the loss.

Callum O’Hare

Wrexham were also found guilty of naming O’Hare in their matchday squad for the 3–0 away win over Millwall when his registration had not been approved by the league.

To be eligible, O’Hare needed to be registered by the midday deadline on the day before the match. According to the EFL report, Wrexham made their first submission at 11:59 a.m. BST. The Football Association rejected it approximately 10 minutes later because none of the forms had been signed, some documents remained in draft form and the stated transfer fee differed from the approved amount.

Wrexham then submitted a second registration form at 4:45 p.m. BST. This was made in error and included documents relating to a different player. A third submission, made at 5:38 p.m., was rejected because several amendments were required, although it had been signed.

A fourth submission followed at 7:04 p.m. BST and was accepted by all parties. However, O’Hare’s registration was not confirmed until 11:15 a.m. the following day, more than 23 hours after the registration deadline for the Millwall match.

The EFL report concluded that Wrexham’s head of football operations had uploaded documents while “aware they were substantially incomplete” and that there was a “full understanding” of the midday deadline.

Wrexham admitted the second breach and committed to a combination of staff recruitment and training to ensure such failures do not happen again.

Wrexham Compliance Taken into Consideration

When determining the punishment, the EFL took into account Wrexham’s cooperation with the investigation, their early admissions and their acknowledgment of the failings.

The league also considered that Wrexham had the correct documentation for Kaboré to be eligible against Birmingham but had failed to submit it. O’Hare, meanwhile, did not feature in the Millwall match.

The EFL also recognized that the Welsh club were taking “clear steps to prevent such issues from occurring in the future.”