Coleraine unable to play new striker in Irish Cup tie due to FIFA global registration error

New Coleraine signing Jamie McGonigle was unable to play against Cliftonville

Coleraine were left frustrated on Friday night as they were unable to include new signing Jamie McGonigle in their squad for their Irish Cup fifth round tie with Cliftonville due to an error with the FIFA Transfer Matching System (TMS).

The Bannsiders were able to call upon fellow new arrivals Rory Brown and Jack Scott, who joined from Glenavon and Linfield respectively, for their game against the Reds at the Showgrounds.

However, since McGonigle joined from Derry City who, despite being located in the same country, are registered with a League in a different country, the striker had to be registered through the TMS.

However, according to Coleraine they were unable to register McGonigle in time for the game due to a “global technical error” with the system.

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It would come back to cost them as Oran Kearney’s men failed to score in a 0-0 draw against Cliftonville, who would go on to win the game 3-0 in extra-time thanks to a Ronan Hale hat-trick.

The 27-year-old forward re-joined Coleraine on a three-and-a-half year deal on Tuesday, the same club he won the Irish Cup with in 2018 prior to spells with Crusaders and Derry City.

McGonigle scored 26 goals in 86 games for the Candystripes and is set to lead the Bannsiders’ line in the absence of star striker Matthew Shevlin, however the club will need to wait for the TMS to come back online before registering him.