Literally, a 6-1 victory was transformed into a 0-3 defeat.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced on the 8th (Korean time) a penalty due to the participation of an ineligible player in the first leg of the quarter-finals of the 2024-2025 AFC Champions League 2 (ACLE) match between Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Lion City Sailors of Singapore, which took place on the 5th in Hiroshima, Japan.

This is an unprecedented farce. Hiroshima achieved a remarkable victory against Lion City, winning 6-1. Although they had a complete victory against a lesser opponent, the issue of an ineligible player was discovered. It was regarding the registration issue of the foreign player Valere Germain, who made his debut for Hiroshima after being substituted in during the second half of the match.

Germain performed well in his debut, scoring the team’s fifth goal. The problem was that Germain was ineligible to play in this match. He received a red card for striking an opposing player in a match against Central Coast Mariners on Feb. 22, 2023, while he was still with his former team Macarthur FC (Australia).

Due to Germain's actions, the AFC had imposed a three-match suspension in their tournament. After losing to the Mariners, Macarthur did not participate in any AFC tournaments. Therefore, as time passed, the three-match suspension remained in effect.

Hiroshima, which unexpectedly brought in Germain as a substitute foreign player, appeared to be completely unaware of this fact. After losing 1-6, Lion City requested the AFC to verify Germain’s ineligibility. The investigation confirmed Germain's ineligibility.

Generally, if an ineligible player is used, the match itself cannot be deemed valid, leading to Hiroshima being declared a 0-3 forfeiture loss. Hiroshima acknowledged through their official website that "Germain was not eligible to play against Lion City as he had not served the three-match suspension imposed in the AFC club competition."

Due to poor handling, a 6-1 victory turned into a 0-3 defeat. Hiroshima announced that "AFC has imposed a fine of $1,000 (about 1.44 million won) and seized $80,000 (about 11.56 million won) from the quarter-final participation fee of $160,000 (about 23.196 million won) in addition to the forfeiture loss of 0-3 in the first leg due to Germain's ineligible participation."

Hiroshima, the J-League runner-up last season, was in high spirits after defeating Vissel Kobe 2-0 in the Super Cup held in February. Despite showcasing the league's best offense and winning decisively against Lion City, they faced embarrassment due to basic procedural issues, making their advancement to the semi-finals uncertain.

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