FIFA confirm England friendly was official match

[TheGift]

LONDON, June 5 (Reuters) - England’s 3-0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday will stand as a full international, despite coach Fabio Capello using seven substitutes.

World governing body FIFA confirmed on Thursday that England had not been given special dispensation to use more than the maximum allowed six substitutes in Port of Spain but said it was happy for the match to stay in the record books.

FIFA’s laws state that no more than six substitutes can be used in national A team matches.

Seven can be used in other games, providing both teams agree and the referee is informed. Trinidad used six substitutes.

“The referee of this match confirmed to FIFA that he received no instruction to allow for such a special dispensation, but that it had been a mistake by the referee,” a FIFA statement said.

“As FIFA has received no official protest regarding this match, it shall be considered as an official match.”

Rules over substitutions were tightened after former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson made 11 substitutions during a friendly against Australia in 2003.

The decision will be a relief for England’s Football Association, who used the match—organised to mark the centenary of the Trinidad and Tobago FA—to gain support for their bid to host the 2018 World Cup finals from FIFA vice-president Jack Warner.

“Before the game we checked the substitutes issue out with the FIFA delegate, the referee and also had an agreement with the opposition manager,” an FA spokesman said on Thursday.

“Our view is this was a full international match and all players who played in the game will receive a full England cap.”

Several England players made their first appearances for the senior team in the friendly and David Beckham regained the captaincy for the first time since stepping down after the 2006 World Cup finals.

The victory also meant England moved back inside the top 10 in FIFA’s rankings.

FIFA confirm England friendly was official match - World Soccer - Yahoo! Sports