Wrexham fined for fielding ineligible players

Wrexham have been fined £75,000 - of which £25,000 is suspended - by the English Football League (EFL) after two incidents of fielding ineligible players this season.

The EFL ruled that Issa Kabore and Callum O'Hare were ineligible to feature in Wrexham's games against Birmingham City and Millwall, respectively.

Kabore came off the bench in Wrexham's 2-1 defeat by Birmingham on 28 August, despite his Home Office 'right to work' documents not being correctly uploaded.

O'Hare, having joined from Sheffield United the day before, was an unused substitute in Wrexham's 3-0 win at Millwall on 2 September, though his documentation was not uploaded in time.

A club statement read: "We can confirm that Wrexham AFC has reached an agreed decision with the EFL concerning two breaches relating to player eligibility."

The EFL's investigation states that Wrexham ignored an official warning via the system which hosts team sheets that Kabore was ineligible.

Kabore was highlighted by a red bar, and the disciplinary commission rejected the suggestion that the warning disappeared upon closing and reopening the app.

O'Hare had been successfully registered before Wrexham's defeat at Millwall, though not in time to be eligible to play at the Den.

The findings state that Wrexham had three applications rejected before the 25-year-old's registration was confirmed at 11:15 BST on Wednesday, 2 September - nearly 24 hours after the eligibility deadline.

Wrexham were also noted to have initially submitted "substantially incomplete documents" which the Football Association rejected.

The Red Dragons are said to have had a full understanding of the rules, but the fact O'Hare did not feature from the bench was also noted by the disciplinary committee.

Wrexham - currently 17th in the Championship - admitted the second breach and have committed to a combination of recruitment and training to avoid a repeat of such matters.

They are thought to be hiring a club secretary in addition to improving administrative training.

A club official told BBC Sport Wales that the incidents involving Kabore and O'Hare were not the fault of boss Phil Parkinson, the club's coaching staff or new sporting director Steve Nickson - who was not officially appointed to his role until 7 September.

The Wrexham statement added: "The club is taking the appropriate steps to prevent such issues occurring in the future."