Wellington, Feb 17 (AFP) The Solomon Islands have been thrown out of this year's Fifa under-17 World Cup for fielding an over-age player during qualifying.

The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) said in a statement Sunday that the Solomons breached regulations by fielding a player in the regional under-16 tournament last year who was born before the qualifying date of January 1, 2002.

The Solomons finished second to New Zealand in the tournament which qualified them for the under-17 World Cup to be hosted by Peru in October.

However, the OFC disciplinary committee found the Solomon Islands had committed a "deliberate and serious breach" of the regulations which has "resulted in the forfeiting of the team's place at the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2019."

A decision will be made soon on who will replace the Solomons at the World Cup with the leading contender expected to be Tahiti who beat Fiji in the play-off for third in the regional qualifier. AFP

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)