Arsenal star BANNED from playing for new club on loan after major paperwork gaffe
ARSENAL loanee Omar Rekik has been banned from playing for his new club due to a major paperwork error.
The defender, 22, joined Swiss side Servette on loan earlier this month but he is yet to make a competitive appearance.
According to 20 Minuten, the club failed to register him as a player before the Swiss Super League’s February 15 deadline.
Servette had until last Thursday to submit their 25-man squad list for the second half of the season.
However, they failed to unregister four players that had left the club during the January transfer window.
Those four players are therefore still on the squad list – even though they are no longer at the club.
Rekik was one of the stars banned from playing in competitive matches as a result.
One of the four players left on the squad list was automatically unregistered when he went out on loan, meaning Tunisian defender Dylan Bronn was given permission to play in Servette’s match against Lugano on Sunday.
As well as Rekik, Japan international Takuma Nishimura and Lorient loanee Bassirou Ndiaye are also banned from playing.
Servette are now awaiting the verdict of a transfer committee.
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A spokesperson told 20 Minuten: “We are trying to resolve this administrative issue and we do not wish to react at this moment.”
Servette will have the option to sign Rekik – who spent the early part of the season at League One Wigan – on a permanent basis this summer.
The defender joined Arsenal from Hertha Berlin in 2021 but is yet to make a competitive first team appearance.
He has since been loaned out on several occasions, twice to Sparta Rotterdam and twice to Wigan.
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