Valencia face cup exit after fielding too many foreigners

Valencia are set for an anxious wait to see if they will remain in the Spanish King's Cup after they fielded too many foreign players in their 1-0 win over third division Novelda.

A substitution made by coach Rafael Benitez in the final minute of Wednesday's second round tie meant that Valencia exceeded the limit of three non-European Union players permitted by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).

With Yugoslav defender Miroslav Djukic and Argentine pair Pablo Aimar and Roberto Fabian Ayala already on the pitch, Benitez brought on Romanian Denis Serban as a replacement for Spanish midfielder Vicente in injury time, bringing the total of foreign players to four.

Benitez claimed he made the mistake because Ayala had previously played with European Union status and said he hoped that the circumstances surrounding the incident would be taken into account by the federation.

"We all had it in our heads that Ayala was still playing as a European Union player and we only realised our mistake when we were in the changing rooms at the end of the match," he said.

"I am not taking it for granted that we have lost the tie because we will have to wait for the federation's decision," Benitez added.

"It is a very unusual situation because as well as being an unintentional error, the substitution took place in the last minute of the match."

Ayala began the season with European status, but after failing to present the federation with all the requisite documents to prove his Italian nationality the club decided to play him as a foreigner until the matter was settled.

In the past, the RFEF have overturned results when winning teams have fielded too many foreign players.

Novelda president Juan Sanchez said that he felt sorry for the position in which Valencia found themselves, but that he had to defend the interests of his club.

"If they (Valencia) have breached the regulations and my club can benefit from their mistake I have to do something about it," he said.

It is the second time that Valencia have been involved in such an incident. In 1997, then coach Jorge Valdano fielded too many foreign players in a league match against Racing Santander.

Valencia lost the match and Valdano was sacked by the club soon afterwards.