ineligible

Long Beach Poly, a 12-time Southern Section football champion, announced on Friday it will not participate in this season’s football playoffs despite finishing second in the Moore League. The school earlier this season had six transfer students declared ineligible for providing false information on paperwork to the Southern Section, a violation of CIF bylaw 202.

Here’s the statement from the Long Beach Unified School District:

“Long Beach Poly High School acknowledges the recent CIF ruling related to violations of CIF Bylaw 202 within its football program. In accordance with that ruling, and as part of an ongoing internal investigation, Poly will withdraw from postseason play.

“The school is fully cooperating with CIF and the District, as a thorough review of our processes and systems is conducted to ensure full compliance with CIF rules and District policy. While student and employee matters are confidential, our commitment remains to support our students while upholding the integrity of our athletic programs.”

San Juan Hills became the latest school to announce forfeits on Friday for using ineligible players. Two transfer students had been in the transfer portal listed as “under review.” The school will forfeit nine games and is now 1-9. Both players were held out of a game on Thursday.

Norco earlier this week forfeited six games, dropping to 1-9 after a win on Thursday.

This crackdown by the Southern Section against students providing false information started during the summer when schools began submitting transfer paperwork. The Southern Section is using new technological tools to verify information. Bishop Montgomery received the harshest punishment, with 24 players declared ineligible, forcing the school to cancel its football season.

Other schools found to have ineligible players this season include Long Beach Millikan, Compton, Bellflower, Victor Valley and Orange Lutheran.

Southern Section commissioner Mike West said last month, “We’ve had a real influx of fraudulent paperwork. It’s been significant and very disheartening.”

In a continuing crackdown by the Southern Section against against students and parents who are supplying inaccurate information on transfer paperwork, Orange Lutheran High announced Tuesday that it has declared a football player ineligible and will forfeit its first two games of the season. The school self-reported the violation after an investigation that lasted for weeks.

More than 40 students this fall have been given penalties of two years without being able to play for violating CIF rule 202, which involves providing false information. In September, the Southern Section disqualified 19 players from the Bishop Montgomery football program for a total of 24. The school canceled its varsity season.

Players at Long Beach Millikan, Long Beach Poly, Compton, Victor Valley and Bellflower have also been hit with two-year penalties.

The Orange Lutheran student will be ineligible only until next season because the transfer did not submit fraudulent paperwork.

The Southern Section has deployed new investigative techniques to checker transfer paperwork submitted by schools.

Orange Lutheran principal Jack Preus and football coach Rod Sherman informed players and parents on Tuesday. Preus said as a result of this experience, his school will institute a “more rigorous process” of reviewing bills and visiting homes of transfer students before sending in paperwork for a valid change of residence.

Schools have started to submit transfer paperwork for basketball players, with the season beginning on Nov. 17, and that will be a good indication whether athletic directors and parents have learned lessons from what has been happening to football players.

A big change is that the Southern Section has been declaring players ineligible after accepting a school’s decision declaring the athlete eligible with a valid change of residence. If additional information becomes available, whether the student was cleared for a valid change of residence, they can be switched to ineligible. Same with students cleared after sit-out period athletes.

“We’re going to be different and do it right,” Sherman said.

Southern Section commissioner Mike West said last month, “We’ve had a real influx of fraudulent paperwork. It’s been significant and very disheartening.”

Orange Lutheran drops to 2-6 overall but is still considered a likely Division 1 playoff participant with its strength of schedule. It forfeited wins to Miami Northwestern and Rancho Cucamonga.

“I’ve absolutely loved my time at Saracens and have made some friends for life,” explained Reading-born Willis, whose brother Jack plays for French club Toulouse.

“I will continue to give everything for this club for the remainder of the season and I’m very excited about what this squad can achieve.”

The Telegraph, external has reported that Willis is set to rejoin Bordeaux-Begles, having left them for Saracens in January 2023.

Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall said he is “disappointed” by Willis’ desire to leave but respected the player’s “decision to pursue a new challenge”.

“He [Willis] has made a great impact on the field and been a popular team-mate off it,” McCall added.

“I know he is determined to give everything to the group over the coming months.”

Sept. 30 (UPI) — The Department of Health and Human Services has launched a process that could see Harvard University ineligible for federal funding, as the Trump administration escalates its fight with the Ivy League school.

The HHS’ Office for Civil Rights announced Monday it has referred Harvard to its office responsible for suspension and debarment decisions, where officials could decided to make the university ineligible for government contracts.

“OCR’s referral of Harvard for formal administrative proceedings reflects OCR’s commitment to safeguard both taxpayer investments and broader public interest,” Paula Stannard, the OCR director, said in a statement.

Harvard is one of several universities the Trump administration has targeted with punitive measures on allegations of failing to protect Jewish students amid pro-Palestine protests that erupted on campuses during the spring of 2024.

While the White House says the actions are to clamp down on anti-Semitism and protect Jewish students at the schools, critics say it is a tactic to suppress dissent and left-leaning ideology, as the Trump administration has pressured universities to adopt policies that amount to federal interference in hiring, admissions and curriculum.

Several of the schools have reached costly agreements to settle allegations with the administration, but Harvard is the most high-profile institution to fight back.

After the Trump administration froze more than $2 billion in government funding for the school, Harvard sued, with a judge earlier this month blocking the federal government’s attempt to withhold the money.

In support of its decision to refer Harvard to its OCR on Monday, HHS cited a June 30 notice it issued to the school stating it had violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which found it had acted “with deliberate indifference toward discrimination and harassment against Jewish and Israeli students on its campus” amid Israel’s war in Gaza.

It also pointed to the OCR’s July 30 referral of Harvard to the Justice Department.

Harvard has 20 days to notify the OCR whether it will use its right to a formal administrative hearing, where an HHS administrative law judge will make a determination on whether it violated Title VI as alleged.

Eight football transfer students from Long Beach Millikan have been declared ineligible in the latest crackdown by the Southern Section, according to the section’s transfer portal.

Last week, Bishop Montgomery had 19 players declared ineligible. Several of those players have moved to Arizona to try to get eligible. The Millikan players received a two-year suspension for violating CIF bylaw 202, which involves providing false information.

Millikan previously announced it had forfeited two games for use of ineligible players. The team is 0-4.

In 2022, Millikan had to forfeit four games for an ineligible player and coach Romeo Pellum was briefly suspended by the school.

The Southern Section has been paying closer attention to transfer students for the last two years since requirements for paperwork went from two items to six, allowing for greater scrutiny.

The Southern Section announced on Friday that it has declared 19 transfer students at Bishop Montgomery athletically ineligible for two years following an investigation that determined they violated CIF bylaws when moving to the Catholic school in Torrance to play football.

The announcement comes after the school fired its coach, Ed Hodgkiss, canceled the rest of its season after playing one game and announced the resignation of President Patrick Lee following an investigation by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

The Southern Section released the following statement: “Based upon the investigation, self-reporting, and findings of Bishop Montgomery High School, along with CIF-Southern Section’s own independent review, the Southern Section has determined that multiple students transferred to Bishop Montgomery High School to play varsity football for the 2025-2026 school year in violation of CIF bylaws.

“Notification has been sent to Bishop Montgomery High School administrators and parents/guardians of the football transfer student-athletes. Those determinations [have been/will be] posted on the CIF-Southern Section website in conformance with Section practices. The CIF-Southern Section and its staff will not comment on individual student athletic eligibility.”

The former coach and several players previously hired an attorney to investigate the matter.

The Southern Section previously announced ineligibility for five players. After further investigation, there are 19 players listed as ineligible on the Southern Section transfer portal.

Some of those players were expected to try to transfer to other schools after Bishop Montgomery discontinued varsity football. They are listed as ineligible for two years. Those players can appeal to try to restore their eligibility.

For months in the spring and summer, Bishop Montgomery had been touting its transfers. The school scheduled powerhouse Mater Dei for a nonleague game even though its program was primarily Division 10 or 11 in past years. While transfers were checking in, none of the paperwork was submitted to the Southern Section until August. That’s when trouble began.

This year, the Southern Section has been using AI and possibly funds available through the state CIF to hire investigators to double-check transfers submitted by schools. Previously when a school approved a verified change of address, it was mostly automatically accepted. There have been other schools determined to have ineligible players, with Long Beach Millikan having to forfeit two games.

This comes after a booster to Narbonne, St. Bernard and Bishop Montgomery, Brett Steigh, received a letter from an attorney with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles telling him to “cease and desist” from helping any Catholic schools.

Steigh went on a podcast to say he paid parents to transfer their sons to Narbonne in 2024 and he also helped pay tuition of football players at St. Bernard in 2020. The football program was dropped there in 2021, 2022 and 2023 after the head coach resigned in the middle of an FBI and IRS investigation.

The Southern Section has declared five football transfers to Bishop Montgomery ineligible for violating CIF rule 202, which is a bylaw about providing false information and comes with a penalty of up to two years of ineligibility.

Bishop Montgomery has been under scrutiny for months because of numerous transfer students, coaching changes and a decision to try to upgrade the program by scheduling powerhouses Mater Dei and Honolulu (Hawaii) Saint Louis.

The Southern Section could offer no response until paperwork was submitted by the school. Now those five players, plus potentially others, are facing the possibility of missing the 2025 and 2026 seasons.

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles replaced the president and principal of Bishop Montgomery last school year. New president Patrick Lee is a former St. John Bosco administrator.

Guernsey FC have been expelled from the FA Cup after fielding an ineligible player.

The islanders drew 1-1 with Bedfont Sports on Saturday in the extra preliminary round of the competition – their first competitive game of the season.

But on Monday the club released a statement saying they had found a registration error with one of the side that played in the club’s first FA Cup match in eight years.

It led to Tuesday’s planned replay between the two sides in London being postponed pending the outcome of an investigation.

“We have just received official confirmation that the club has been removed from this season’s competition, and that Bedfont Sports Club FC has been awarded the tie and will progress to the Preliminary Round,” a Guernsey FC statement read.

Bedfont Sports will host Kingstonian on 16 August.

Guernsey FC’s next game will be their first ever match in the Southern Combination Premier Division when they host Wick at Victoria Park on Saturday.

It is the second time this year that a Channel Island side has been sanctioned for fielding an ineligible player.

In April Jersey Bulls were docked three points for playing a player that should have been suspended in a Combined Counties Premier South game – a decision that cost them the league title.

The club subsequently won promotion to Isthmian League South East via the play-offs.