FA surges to new heights of incompetence over QPR ruling

David Bernstein: FA Chairman

The Football Association has announced that its long awaited ruling on whether or not to dock QPR points over the transfer of Alejandro Faurlin will not now be known before the original, and already ridiculously late, deadline of 1600 tomorrow (friday).

Having known about this issue for most of the season and left dealing with it until so far towards the end of the season that QPR have already won the championship, we now face the prospect of a celebratory party on Saturday irrespective of the result against Leeds on Saturday - without any certainty that there is actually anything to celebrate at all.

The FA seem to have realised that to drop QPR down into the play off places will not only result in a legal challenge from QPR, as already promised by Chairman Paladini, but also a legal challenge from whichever club that then pushes out of the playoffs to make way. And after both of those hearings are finished there will be the inevitable - and multiple - appeals from anything up to four clubs.

So having tried a pretty cack-handed PR maneuvre to test the public mood for dropping QPR down, the smart money is now on a points deduction that is implemented next season, probably meaning QPR start in the premier league minus anything up to 15 points. But as the FA demonstrates the same sure handedness we've come to expect from them on this and other issues (remember the recruitment process of Capello?) who knows how they might conspire to screw it up even more between now and Monday, when the result is now expected.

What a bunch of muppets.