Hiroshima stripped of victory after fielding suspended player

HIROSHIMA: Sanfrecce Hiroshima had their Asian Champions League Two quarter-final first leg win over Lion City Sailors overturned after the Asian Football Confederation deemed the Japanese club to have fielded a suspended player.

The J-League outfit secured a 6-1 victory over the Singaporeans in Hiroshima on Wednesday but must forfeit the match for fielding Valere Germain, who should have been serving a three-match ban, the confederation announced late on Saturday.

Lion City were awarded a 3-0 first leg win, while Hiroshima received a $1,000 fine and forfeited half their $160,000 participation fee.

Germain joined Hiroshima from Australia’s Macarthur FC last month and was included in Sanfrecce’s squad to play Lion City before completing his suspension for conduct in last year’s AFC Cup competition.

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The French forward came on in the second half against Lion City and netted his side’s sixth goal with 16 minutes remaining as Hiroshima looked set to cruise into the semi-finals of the continental competition.

Hiroshima will now go into Wednesday’s second leg at Singapore’s Jalan Besar Stadium needing to overturn a three-goal deficit to advance to the last four.