Aston Villa remain in the Women's League Cup despite having ineligible players and will advance at the expense of Manchester United.
Villa defeated Sunderland 7-0 in the final Group A match, but Thai defender Noel Maritz contributed to the victory in the cup match.
Sunderland won their group and Villa progressed as one of the best runners-up.
United, who were second and one of the best teams, were eliminated because their goal difference was worse than Villa.
Swiss defender Maritz came on at half-time in Villa's win over Sunderland on January 24, with his team leading 3-0.
Maritz played three games for Arsenal in the opening stages of the competition before joining Villa on loan in January, leaving him out of cup competition. trigger an FA investigation.
A statement from the FA said: “The Independent Tribunal has deducted three points from Aston Villa for using an ineligible player in their League Cup group stage match 2 match against Sunderland on Wednesday 24 January 2024. ”
“The FA argued that the player was ineligible for the match because he had played in a competition for his previous club, which is in breach of Cup Rule 8.19.”
“Aston Villa admitted the charge and admitted that an offense had taken place. The Independent Tribunal awarded the points deducted from Aston Villa to their opponents Sunderland and erased the 7-0 scoreline from their records. I ordered you to do it.”
“As a result, Sunderland finish as Group A winners, with Aston Villa progressing to the quarter-finals as one of the top two places alongside Tottenham Hotspur.”
No scoreline was announced for the match, with Sunderland simply awarded three points for Villa's forfeit.
Villa's victory after the initial draw meant they would finish top of Group A ahead of second-placed Sunderland.
However, the north-east side's victory moved them to the top of the table with 10 points, with Villa second on nine points.
The five League Cup group winners will advance to the knockout quarter-final stage alongside the top two teams in second place, determined based on points per game.
Manchester United finished second in Group D with nine points and looked set to qualify for the knockout stages with 2.25 points per game, but they were only ahead of Tottenham with 2.5 points.
However, Villa's result meant Sunderland were not kicked out of the tournament, meaning they were level with United on points per game, but beat the Red Devils on goal difference, with a plus-16 rather than a plus-9. I'm out of the competition.
BBC Sport understands that Manchester United consulted its legal team last week to better understand the club's rights and involvement in the matter.
United are thought to be extremely disappointed with the decision, which was taken by an independent tribunal referred to by the FA.
In a similar case, Reading were removed from the 2014 League Cup squad and fined £50 for using Bonnie Horwood, who had played three games for Watford.
Villa manager Carla Ward confirmed that Maritz was included in the match. “A terrible mistake.”.
“We need to take collective responsibility for how this happened,” Ward said.
“First and foremost, as a club, we understand that a frankly terrible mistake was made and that there has been internal discussion and an investigation into how it happened.
“We need to make sure we have the right processes in place to ensure something like this never happens again.”
The quarter-final draw was due to be broadcast live on the BBC on Friday, but has been postponed until Monday, January 29, pending an investigation.
Asked about the impact on Manchester United and his thoughts on the situation, manager Mark Skinner said on Friday: “My understanding so far is that the matter will go to court and we will see the outcome. That's all. I think that's all we know.”
“The fact is, I don't think we have a say, even if it could directly affect us. “I hope that the right decision is taken and that it is not to the detriment of Manchester United. I just want to repeat what I said last night.”
“We did everything we could to qualify from the most difficult group. We hope the right decision is made and we don't reprimand Manchester United.”
